Earthquake Information System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1991-01-01

IAEMIS (Integrated Automated Emergency Management Information System) is the principal tool of an earthquake preparedness program developed by Martin Marietta and the Mid-America Remote Sensing Center (MARC). It is a two-component set of software, data and procedures to provide information enabling management personnel to make informed decisions in disaster situations. The NASA-developed program ELAS, originally used to analyze Landsat data, provides MARC with a spatially-oriented information management system. Additional MARC projects include land resources management, and development of socioeconomic data.

The California Post-Earthquake Information Clearinghouse: A Plan to Learn From the Next Large California Earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loyd, R.; Walter, S.; Fenton, J.; Tubbesing, S.; Greene, M.

2008-12-01

In the rush to remove debris after a damaging earthquake, perishable data related to a wide range of impacts on the physical, built and social environments can be lost. The California Post-Earthquake Information Clearinghouse is intended to prevent this data loss by supporting the earth scientists, engineers, and social and policy researchers who will conduct fieldwork in the affected areas in the hours and days following the earthquake to study these effects. First called for by Governor Ronald Reagan following the destructive M6.5 San Fernando earthquake in 1971, the concept of the Clearinghouse has since been incorporated into the response plans of the National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program (USGS Circular 1242). This presentation is intended to acquaint scientists with the purpose, functions, and services of the Clearinghouse. Typically, the Clearinghouse is set up in the vicinity of the earthquake within 24 hours of the mainshock and is maintained for several days to several weeks. It provides a location where field researchers can assemble to share and discuss their observations, plan and coordinate subsequent field work, and communicate significant findings directly to the emergency responders and to the public through press conferences. As the immediate response effort winds down, the Clearinghouse will ensure that collected data are archived and made available through "lessons learned" reports and publications that follow significant earthquakes. Participants in the quarterly meetings of the Clearinghouse include representatives from state and federal agencies, universities, NGOs and other private groups. Overall management of the Clearinghouse is delegated to the agencies represented by the authors above.

Harnessing the Collective Power of Eyewitnesses for Improved Earthquake Information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bossu, R.; Lefebvre, S.; Mazet-Roux, G.; Steed, R.

2013-12-01

The Euro-Med Seismological Centre (EMSC) operates the second global earthquake information website (www.emsc-csem.org) which attracts 2 million visits a month from about 200 different countries. We collect information about earthquakes' effects from eyewitnesses such as online questionnaires, geolocated pics to rapidly constrain impact scenario. At the beginning, the collection was purely intended to address a scientific issue: the rapid evaluation of earthquake's impact. However, it rapidly appears that the understanding of eyewitnesses' expectations and motivations in the immediate aftermath of an earthquake was essential to optimise this data collection. Crowdsourcing information on earthquake's effects does not apply to a pre-existing community. By definition, eyewitnesses only exist once the earthquake has struck. We developed a strategy on social networks (Facebook, Google+, Twitter...) to interface with spontaneously emerging online communities of eyewitnesses. The basic idea is to create a positive feedback loop: attract eyewitnesses and engage with them by providing expected earthquake information and services, collect their observations, collate them for improved earthquake information services to attract more witnesses. We will present recent examples to illustrate how important the use of social networks is to engage with eyewitnesses especially in regions of low seismic activity where people are unaware of existing Internet resources dealing with earthquakes. A second type of information collated in our information services is derived from the real time analysis of the traffic on our website in the first minutes following an earthquake occurrence, an approach named flashsourcing. We show, using the example of the Mineral, Virginia earthquake that the arrival times of eyewitnesses of our website follows the propagation of the generated seismic waves and then, that eyewitnesses can be considered as ground motion sensors. Flashsourcing discriminates felt

Emergency mapping and information management during Nepal Earthquake 2015 - Challenges and lesson learned

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Joshi, G.; Gurung, D. R.

2016-12-01

A powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal at 06:11 UTC on 25 April 2015. Several subsequent aftershocks were deadliest earthquake in recent history of Nepal. In total about 9000 people died and 22,300 people were injured, and lives of eight million people, almost one-third of the population of Nepal was effected. The event lead to massive campaigned to gather data and information on damage and loss using remote sensing, field inspection, and community survey. Information on distribution of relief materials is other important domain of information necessary for equitable relief distribution. Pre and post-earthquake high resolution satellite images helped in damage area assessment and mapping. Many national and international agencies became active to generate and fill the information vacuum. The challenges included data access bottleneck due to lack of good IT infrastructure; inconsistent products due to absence of standard mapping guidelines; dissemination challenges due to absence of Standard Operating Protocols and single information gateway. These challenges were negating opportunities offered by improved earth observation data availability, increasing engagement of volunteers for emergency mapping, and centralized emergency coordination practice. This paper highlights critical practical challenges encountered during emergency mapping and information management during the earthquake in Nepal. There is greater need to address such challenges to effectively use technological leverages that recent advancement in space science, IT and mapping domain provides.

Research on Collection of Earthquake Disaster Information from the Crowd

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nian, Z.

2017-12-01

In China, the assessment of the earthquake disasters information is mainly based on the inversion of the seismic source mechanism and the pre-calculated population data model, the real information of the earthquake disaster is usually collected through the government departments, the accuracy and the speed need to be improved. And in a massive earthquake like the one in Mexico, the telecommunications infrastructure on ground were damaged , the quake zone was difficult to observe by satellites and aircraft in the bad weather. Only a bit of information was sent out through maritime satellite of other country. Thus, the timely and effective development of disaster relief was seriously affected. Now Chinese communication satellites have been orbiting, people don't only rely on the ground telecom base station to keep communication with the outside world, to open the web page,to land social networking sites, to release information, to transmit images and videoes. This paper will establish an earthquake information collection system which public can participate. Through popular social platform and other information sources, the public can participate in the collection of earthquake information, and supply quake zone information, including photos, video, etc.,especially those information made by unmanned aerial vehicle (uav) after earthqake, the public can use the computer, potable terminals, or mobile text message to participate in the earthquake information collection. In the system, the information will be divided into earthquake zone basic information, earthquake disaster reduction information, earthquake site information, post-disaster reconstruction information etc. and they will been processed and put into database. The quality of data is analyzed by multi-source information, and is controlled by local public opinion on them to supplement the data collected by government departments timely and implement the calibration of simulation results ,which will better guide

Combining historical and geomorphological information to investigate earthquake induced landslides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cardinali, M.; Ferrari, G.; Galli, M.; Guidoboni, E.; Guzzetti, F.

2003-04-01

Landslides are caused by many different triggers, including earthquakes. In Italy, a detailed new generation catalogue of information on historical earthquakes for the period 461 B.C to 1997 is available (Catalogue of Strong Italian Earthquakes from 461 B.C. to 1997, ING-SGA 2000). The catalogue lists 548 earthquakes and provides information on a total of about 450 mass-movements triggered by 118 seismic events. The information on earthquake-induced landslides listed in the catalogue was obtained through the careful scrutiny of historical documents and chronicles, but was rarely checked in the field. We report on an attempt to combine the available historical information on landslides caused by earthquakes with standard geomorphological techniques, including the interpretation of aerial photographs and field surveys, to better determine the location, type and distribution of seismically induced historical slope failures. We present four examples in the Central Apennines. The first example describes a rock slide triggered by the 1279 April 30 Umbria-Marche Apennines earthquake (Io = IX) at Serravalle, along the Chienti River (Central Italy). The landslide is the oldest known earthquake-induced slope failure in Italy. The second example describes the location of 2 large landslides triggered by the 1584 September 10 earthquake (Io = IX) at San Piero in Bagno, along the Savio River (Northern Italy). The landslides were subsequently largely modified by mass movements occurred on 1855 making the recognition of the original seismically induced failures difficult, if not impossible. In the third example we present the geographical distribution of the available information on landslide events triggered by 8 earthquakes in Central Valnerina, in the period 1703 to 1979. A comparison with the location of landslides triggered by the September-October 1997 Umbria-Marche earthquake sequence is presented. The fourth example describes the geographical distribution of the available

88 hours: The U.S. Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center response to the 11 March 2011 Mw 9.0 Tohoku earthquake

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hayes, G.P.; Earle, P.S.; Benz, H.M.; Wald, D.J.; Briggs, R.W.

2011-01-01

This article presents a timeline of NEIC response to a major global earthquake for the first time in a formal journal publication. We outline the key observations of the earthquake made by the NEIC and its partner agencies, discuss how these analyses evolved, and outline when and how this information was released to the public and to other internal and external parties. Our goal in the presentation of this material is to provide a detailed explanation of the issues faced in the response to a rare, giant earthquake. We envisage that the timeline format of this presentation can highlight technical and procedural successes and shortcomings, which may in turn help prompt research by our academic partners and further improvements to our future response efforts. We have shown how NEIC response efforts have significantly improved over the past six years since the great 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake. We are optimistic that the research spawned from this disaster, and the unparalleled dense and diverse data sets that have been recorded, can lead to similar-and necessary-improvements in the future.

Earthquakes & Volcanoes, Volume 21, Number 1, 1989: Featuring the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colorado, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

,; Spall, Henry; Schnabel, Diane C.

1989-01-01

Earthquakes and Volcanoes is published bimonthly by the U.S. Geological Survey to provide current information on earthquakes and seismology, volcanoes, and related natural hazards of interest to both generalized and specialized readers. The Secretary of the Interior has determined that the publication of this periodical is necessary in the transaction of the public business required by law of this Department. Use of funds for printing this periodical has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget through June 30, 1989. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Twitter as Information Source for Rapid Damage Estimation after Major Earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eggert, Silke; Fohringer, Joachim

2014-05-01

Natural disasters like earthquakes require a fast response from local authorities. Well trained rescue teams have to be available, equipment and technology has to be ready set up, information have to be directed to the right positions so the head quarter can manage the operation precisely. The main goal is to reach the most affected areas in a minimum of time. But even with the best preparation for these cases, there will always be the uncertainty of what really happened in the affected area. Modern geophysical sensor networks provide high quality data. These measurements, however, are only mapping disjoint values from their respective locations for a limited amount of parameters. Using observations of witnesses represents one approach to enhance measured values from sensors ("humans as sensors"). These observations are increasingly disseminated via social media platforms. These "social sensors" offer several advantages over common sensors, e.g. high mobility, high versatility of captured parameters as well as rapid distribution of information. Moreover, the amount of data offered by social media platforms is quite extensive. We analyze messages distributed via Twitter after major earthquakes to get rapid information on what eye-witnesses report from the epicentral area. We use this information to (a) quickly learn about damage and losses to support fast disaster response and to (b) densify geophysical networks in areas where there is sparse information to gain a more detailed insight on felt intensities. We present a case study from the Mw 7.1 Philippines (Bohol) earthquake that happened on Oct. 15 2013. We extract Twitter messages, so called tweets containing one or more specified keywords from the semantic field of "earthquake" and use them for further analysis. For the time frame of Oct. 15 to Oct 18 we get a data base of in total 50.000 tweets whereof 2900 tweets are geo-localized and 470 have a photo attached. Analyses for both national level and locally for

Earthquakes in the United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stover, C.

1977-01-01

To supplement data in the report Preliminary Determination of Epicenters (PDE), the National earthquake Information Service (NEIS) also publishes a quarterly circular, Earthquakes in the United States. This provides information on the felt area of U.S earthquakes and their intensity. The main purpose is to describe the larger effects of these earthquakes so that they can be used in seismic risk studies, site evaluations for nuclear power plants, and answering inquiries by the general public.

Compilation of Earthquakes from 1850-2007 within 200 miles of the Idaho National Laboratory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

N. Seth Carpenter

2010-07-01

An updated earthquake compilation was created for the years 1850 through 2007 within 200 miles of the Idaho National Laboratory. To generate this compilation, earthquake catalogs were collected from several contributing sources and searched for redundant events using the search criteria established for this effort. For all sets of duplicate events, a preferred event was selected, largely based on epicenter-network proximity. All unique magnitude information for each event was added to the preferred event records and these records were used to create the compilation referred to as “INL1850-2007”.

End-User Applications of Real-Time Earthquake Information in Europe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cua, G. B.; Gasparini, P.; Giardini, D.; Zschau, J.; Filangieri, A. R.; Reakt Wp7 Team

2011-12-01

The primary objective of European FP7 project REAKT (Strategies and Tools for Real-Time Earthquake Risk Reduction) is to improve the efficiency of real-time earthquake risk mitigation methods and their capability of protecting structures, infrastructures, and populations. REAKT aims to address the issues of real-time earthquake hazard and response from end-to-end, with efforts directed along the full spectrum of methodology development in earthquake forecasting, earthquake early warning, and real-time vulnerability systems, through optimal decision-making, and engagement and cooperation of scientists and end users for the establishment of best practices for use of real-time information. Twelve strategic test cases/end users throughout Europe have been selected. This diverse group of applications/end users includes civil protection authorities, railway systems, hospitals, schools, industrial complexes, nuclear plants, lifeline systems, national seismic networks, and critical structures. The scale of target applications covers a wide range, from two school complexes in Naples, to individual critical structures, such as the Rion Antirion bridge in Patras, and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridge in Istanbul, to large complexes, such as the SINES industrial complex in Portugal and the Thessaloniki port area, to distributed lifeline and transportation networks and nuclear plants. Some end-users are interested in in-depth feasibility studies for use of real-time information and development of rapid response plans, while others intend to install real-time instrumentation and develop customized automated control systems. From the onset, REAKT scientists and end-users will work together on concept development and initial implementation efforts using the data products and decision-making methodologies developed with the goal of improving end-user risk mitigation. The aim of this scientific/end-user partnership is to ensure that scientific efforts are applicable to operational

75 FR 8042 - Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-02-23

... Earthquake Hazards Reduction Meeting AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of Commerce. ACTION: Notice of open meeting. SUMMARY: The Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction.... FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Jack Hayes, National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program...

Real-time earthquake data feasible

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bush, Susan

Scientists agree that early warning devices and monitoring of both Hurricane Hugo and the Mt. Pinatubo volcanic eruption saved thousands of lives. What would it take to develop this sort of early warning and monitoring system for earthquake activity?Not all that much, claims a panel assigned to study the feasibility, costs, and technology needed to establish a real-time earthquake monitoring (RTEM) system. The panel, drafted by the National Academy of Science's Committee on Seismology, has presented its findings in Real-Time Earthquake Monitoring. The recently released report states that “present technology is entirely capable of recording and processing data so as to provide real-time information, enabling people to mitigate somewhat the earthquake disaster.” RTEM systems would consist of two parts—an early warning system that would give a few seconds warning before severe shaking, and immediate postquake information within minutes of the quake that would give actual measurements of the magnitude. At this time, however, this type of warning system has not been addressed at the national level for the United States and is not included in the National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program, according to the report.

Earthquake risk reduction in the United States: An assessment of selected user needs and recommendations for the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1994-12-31

This Assessment was conducted to improve the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) by providing NEHRP agencies with information that supports their user-oriented setting of crosscutting priorities in the NEHRP strategic planning process. The primary objective of this Assessment was to take a ``snapshot`` evaluation of the needs of selected users throughout the major program elements of NEHRP. Secondary objectives were to conduct an assessment of the knowledge that exists (or is being developed by NEHRP) to support earthquake risk reduction, and to begin a process of evaluating how NEHRP is meeting user needs. An identification of NEHRP`s strengths alsomore » resulted from the effort, since those strengths demonstrate successful methods that may be useful to NEHRP in the future. These strengths are identified in the text, and many of them represent important achievements since the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act was passed in 1977.« less

Development of the Japanese National Disaster Medical System and Experiences during the Great East Japan Earthquake

PubMed Central

Homma, Masato

2015-01-01

After the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995, the Japanese national disaster medical system (NDMS) was developed. It mainly consists of four components, namely, a disaster base hospital, an emergency medical information system, a disaster medical assistance team (DMAT), and national aeromedical evacuation (AE). The NDMS was tested for the first time in a real disaster situation during the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. Two airports and one base were appointed as DMAT gathering places, and approximately 393 DMAT members divided into 78 teams were transported by Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) aircrafts to two AE staging bases the following day. Staging care units were installed at Hanamaki Airport, Fukushima Airport, and the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Camp Kasuminome, and 69, 14 and 24 DMAT teams were placed at those locations, respectively. In total, 19 patients were evacuated using JASDF fixed-wing aircraft. Important issues requiring attention became clear through the experiences of the Great East Japan Earthquake and will be discussed in this paper. PMID:26306054

An Advanced Real-Time Earthquake Information System in Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takahashi, I.; Nakamura, H.; Suzuki, W.; Kunugi, T.; Aoi, S.; Fujiwara, H.

2015-12-01

J-RISQ (Japan Real-time Information System for earthquake) has been developing in NIED for appropriate first-actions to big earthquakes. When an earthquake occurs, seismic intensities (SI) are calculated first at each observation station and sent to the Data Management Center in different timing. The system begins the first estimation when the number of the stations observing the SI of 2.5 or larger exceeds the threshold amount. It estimates SI distribution, exposed population and earthquake damage on buildings by using basic data for estimation, such as subsurface amplification factors, population, and building information. It has been accumulated in J-SHIS (Japan Seismic Information Station) developed by NIED, a public portal for seismic hazard information across Japan. The series of the estimation is performed for each 250m square mesh and finally the estimated data is converted into information for each municipality. Since October 2013, we have opened estimated SI, exposed population etc. to the public through the website by making full use of maps and tables.In the previous system, we sometimes could not inspect the information of the surrounding areas out of the range suffered from strong motions, or the details of the focusing areas, and could not confirm whether the present information was the latest or not without accessing the website. J-RISQ has been advanced by introducing the following functions to settle those problems and promote utilization in local areas or in personal levels. In addition, the website in English has been released.・It has become possible to focus on the specific areas and inspect enlarged information.・The estimated information can be downloaded in the form of KML.・The estimated information can be updated automatically and be provided as the latest one.・The newest information can be inspected by using RSS readers or browsers corresponding to RSS.・Exclusive pages for smartphones have been prepared.The information estimated

Insight into the Earthquake Risk Information Seeking Behavior of the Victims: Evidence from Songyuan, China

PubMed Central

Li, Shasha; Zhai, Guofang; Zhou, Shutian; Fan, Chenjing; Wu, Yunqing; Ren, Chongqiang

2017-01-01

Efficient risk communication is a vital way to reduce the vulnerability of individuals when facing emergency risks, especially regarding earthquakes. Efficient risk communication aims at improving the supply of risk information and fulfilling the need for risk information by individuals. Therefore, an investigation into individual-level information seeking behavior within earthquake risk contexts is very important for improved earthquake risk communication. However, at present there are very few studies that have explored the behavior of individuals seeking earthquake risk information. Under the guidance of the Risk Information Seeking and Processing model as well as relevant practical findings using the structural equation model, this study attempts to explore the main determinants of an individual’s earthquake risk information seeking behavior, and to validate the mediator effect of information need during the seeking process. A questionnaire-based survey of 918 valid respondents in Songyuan, China, who had been hit by a small earthquake swarm, was used to provide practical evidence for this study. Results indicated that information need played a noteworthy role in the earthquake risk information seeking process, and was detected both as an immediate predictor and as a mediator. Informational subjective norms drive the seeking behavior on earthquake risk information through both direct and indirect approaches. Perceived information gathering capacity, negative affective responses and risk perception have an indirect effect on earthquake risk information seeking behavior via information need. The implications for theory and practice regarding risk communication are discussed and concluded. PMID:28272359

Insight into the Earthquake Risk Information Seeking Behavior of the Victims: Evidence from Songyuan, China.

PubMed

Li, Shasha; Zhai, Guofang; Zhou, Shutian; Fan, Chenjing; Wu, Yunqing; Ren, Chongqiang

2017-03-07

Efficient risk communication is a vital way to reduce the vulnerability of individuals when facing emergency risks, especially regarding earthquakes. Efficient risk communication aims at improving the supply of risk information and fulfilling the need for risk information by individuals. Therefore, an investigation into individual-level information seeking behavior within earthquake risk contexts is very important for improved earthquake risk communication. However, at present there are very few studies that have explored the behavior of individuals seeking earthquake risk information. Under the guidance of the Risk Information Seeking and Processing model as well as relevant practical findings using the structural equation model, this study attempts to explore the main determinants of an individual's earthquake risk information seeking behavior, and to validate the mediator effect of information need during the seeking process. A questionnaire-based survey of 918 valid respondents in Songyuan, China, who had been hit by a small earthquake swarm, was used to provide practical evidence for this study. Results indicated that information need played a noteworthy role in the earthquake risk information seeking process, and was detected both as an immediate predictor and as a mediator. Informational subjective norms drive the seeking behavior on earthquake risk information through both direct and indirect approaches. Perceived information gathering capacity, negative affective responses and risk perception have an indirect effect on earthquake risk information seeking behavior via information need. The implications for theory and practice regarding risk communication are discussed and concluded.

75 FR 50749 - Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-08-17

... Earthquake Hazards Reduction Meeting AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of Commerce. ACTION: Notice of open meeting. SUMMARY: The Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction... on NEHRP earthquake related activities and to gather information for the 2011 Annual Report of the...

Southern California Earthquake Center/Undergraduate Studies in Earthquake Information Technology (SCEC/UseIT): Towards the Next Generation of Internship

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perry, S.; Benthien, M.; Jordan, T. H.

2005-12-01

The SCEC/UseIT internship program is training the next generation of earthquake scientist, with methods that can be adapted to other disciplines. UseIT interns work collaboratively, in multi-disciplinary teams, conducting computer science research that is needed by earthquake scientists. Since 2002, the UseIT program has welcomed 64 students, in some two dozen majors, at all class levels, from schools around the nation. Each summer''s work is posed as a ``Grand Challenge.'' The students then organize themselves into project teams, decide how to proceed, and pool their diverse talents and backgrounds. They have traditional mentors, who provide advice and encouragement, but they also mentor one another, and this has proved to be a powerful relationship. Most begin with fear that their Grand Challenge is impossible, and end with excitement and pride about what they have accomplished. The 22 UseIT interns in summer, 2005, were primarily computer science and engineering majors, with others in geology, mathematics, English, digital media design, physics, history, and cinema. The 2005 Grand Challenge was to "build an earthquake monitoring system" to aid scientists who must visualize rapidly evolving earthquake sequences and convey information to emergency personnel and the public. Most UseIT interns were engaged in software engineering, bringing new datasets and functionality to SCEC-VDO (Virtual Display of Objects), a 3D visualization software that was prototyped by interns last year, using Java3D and an extensible, plug-in architecture based on the Eclipse Integrated Development Environment. Other UseIT interns used SCEC-VDO to make animated movies, and experimented with imagery in order to communicate concepts and events in earthquake science. One movie-making project included the creation of an assessment to test the effectiveness of the movie''s educational message. Finally, one intern created an interactive, multimedia presentation of the UseIT program.

Evaluation of the real-time earthquake information system in Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakamura, Hiromitsu; Horiuchi, Shigeki; Wu, Changjiang; Yamamoto, Shunroku; Rydelek, Paul A.

2009-01-01

The real-time earthquake information system (REIS) of the Japanese seismic network is developed for automatically determining earthquake parameters within a few seconds after the P-waves arrive at the closest stations using both the P-wave arrival times and the timing data that P-waves have not yet arrived at other stations. REIS results play a fundamental role in the real-time information for earthquake early warning in Japan. We show the rapidity and accuracy of REIS from the analysis of 4,050 earthquakes in three years since 2005; 44 percent of the first reports are issued within 5 seconds after the first P-wave arrival and 80 percent of the events have a difference in epicenter distance less than 20 km relative to manually determined locations. We compared the formal catalog to the estimated magnitude from the real-time analysis and found that 94 percent of the events had a magnitude difference of +/-1.0 unit.

The U.S. Geological Survey's Earthquake Summary Posters: A GIS-based Education and Communication Product for Presenting Consolidated Post-Earthquake Information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tarr, A.; Benz, H.; Earle, P.; Wald, D. J.

2003-12-01

Earthquake Summary Posters (ESP's), a new product of the U.S. Geological Survey's Earthquake Program, are produced at the National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) in Golden. The posters consist of rapidly-generated, GIS-based maps made following significant earthquakes worldwide (typically M>7.0, or events of significant media/public interest). ESP's consolidate, in an attractive map format, a large-scale epicentral map, several auxiliary regional overviews (showing tectonic and geographical setting, seismic history, seismic hazard, and earthquake effects), depth sections (as appropriate), a table of regional earthquakes, and a summary of the reional seismic history and tectonics. The immediate availability of the latter text summaries has been facilitated by the availability of Rapid, Accurate Tectonic Summaries (RATS) produced at NEIC and posted on the web following significant events. The rapid production of ESP's has been facilitated by generating, during the past two years, regional templates for tectonic areas around the world by organizing the necessary spatially-referenced data for the map base and the thematic layers that overlay the base. These GIS databases enable scripted Arc Macro Language (AML) production of routine elements of the maps (for example background seismicity, tectonic features, and probabilistic hazard maps). However, other elements of the maps are earthquake-specific and are produced manually to reflect new data, earthquake effects, and special characteristics. By the end of this year, approximately 85% of the Earth's seismic zones will be covered for generating future ESP's. During the past year, 13 posters were completed, comparable to the yearly average expected for significant earthquakes. Each year, all ESPs will be published on a CD in PDF format as an Open-File Report. In addition, each is linked to the special event earthquake pages on the USGS Earthquake Program web site (http://earthquake.usgs.gov). Although three formats

Earthquakes and faults in southern California (1970-2010)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sleeter, Benjamin M.; Calzia, James P.; Walter, Stephen R.

2012-01-01

The map depicts both active and inactive faults and earthquakes magnitude 1.5 to 7.3 in southern California (1970–2010). The bathymetry was generated from digital files from the California Department of Fish And Game, Marine Region, Coastal Bathymetry Project. Elevation data are from the U.S. Geological Survey National Elevation Database. Landsat satellite image is from fourteen Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper scenes collected between 2009 and 2010. Fault data are reproduced with permission from 2006 California Geological Survey and U.S. Geological Survey data. The earthquake data are from the U.S. Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center.

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earthquake Web Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fee, J.; Martinez, E.

2015-12-01

USGS Earthquake web applications provide access to earthquake information from USGS and other Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS) contributors. One of the primary goals of these applications is to provide a consistent experience for accessing both near-real time information as soon as it is available and historic information after it is thoroughly reviewed. Millions of people use these applications every month including people who feel an earthquake, emergency responders looking for the latest information about a recent event, and scientists researching historic earthquakes and their effects. Information from multiple catalogs and contributors is combined by the ANSS Comprehensive Catalog into one composite catalog, identifying the most preferred information from any source for each event. A web service and near-real time feeds provide access to all contributed data, and are used by a number of users and software packages. The Latest Earthquakes application displays summaries of many events, either near-real time feeds or custom searches, and the Event Page application shows detailed information for each event. Because all data is accessed through the web service, it can also be downloaded by users. The applications are maintained as open source projects on github, and use mobile-first and responsive-web-design approaches to work well on both mobile devices and desktop computers. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/

Mexican Earthquakes and Tsunamis Catalog Reviewed

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramirez-Herrera, M. T.; Castillo-Aja, R.

2015-12-01

Today the availability of information on the internet makes online catalogs very easy to access by both scholars and the public in general. The catalog in the "Significant Earthquake Database", managed by the National Center for Environmental Information (NCEI formerly NCDC), NOAA, allows access by deploying tabular and cartographic data related to earthquakes and tsunamis contained in the database. The NCEI catalog is the product of compiling previously existing catalogs, historical sources, newspapers, and scientific articles. Because NCEI catalog has a global coverage the information is not homogeneous. Existence of historical information depends on the presence of people in places where the disaster occurred, and that the permanence of the description is preserved in documents and oral tradition. In the case of instrumental data, their availability depends on the distribution and quality of seismic stations. Therefore, the availability of information for the first half of 20th century can be improved by careful analysis of the available information and by searching and resolving inconsistencies. This study shows the advances we made in upgrading and refining data for the earthquake and tsunami catalog of Mexico since 1500 CE until today, presented in the format of table and map. Data analysis allowed us to identify the following sources of error in the location of the epicenters in existing catalogs: • Incorrect coordinate entry • Place name erroneous or mistaken • Too general data that makes difficult to locate the epicenter, mainly for older earthquakes • Inconsistency of earthquakes and the tsunami occurrence: earthquake's epicenter located too far inland reported as tsunamigenic. The process of completing the catalogs directly depends on the availability of information; as new archives are opened for inspection, there are more opportunities to complete the history of large earthquakes and tsunamis in Mexico. Here, we also present new earthquake and

Understanding Earthquakes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Amanda; Gray, Ron

2018-01-01

December 26, 2004 was one of the deadliest days in modern history, when a 9.3 magnitude earthquake--the third largest ever recorded--struck off the coast of Sumatra in Indonesia (National Centers for Environmental Information 2014). The massive quake lasted at least 10 minutes and devastated the Indian Ocean. The quake displaced an estimated…

Multi-source and multi-angle remote sensing image data collection, application and sharing of Beichuan National Earthquake Ruins Museum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Yueguan; Wang, Wei; Wen, Qi; Huang, He; Lin, Jingli; Zhang, Wei

2015-12-01

Ms8.0 Wenchuan earthquake that occurred on May 12, 2008 brought huge casualties and property losses to the Chinese people, and Beichuan County was destroyed in the earthquake. In order to leave a site for commemorate of the people, and for science propaganda and research of earthquake science, Beichuan National Earthquake Ruins Museum has been built on the ruins of Beichuan county. Based on the demand for digital preservation of the earthquake ruins park and collection of earthquake damage assessment of research and data needs, we set up a data set of Beichuan National Earthquake Ruins Museum, including satellite remote sensing image, airborne remote sensing image, ground photogrammetry data and ground acquisition data. At the same time, in order to make a better service for earthquake science research, we design the sharing ideas and schemes for this scientific data set.

Tectonic summaries of magnitude 7 and greater earthquakes from 2000 to 2015

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hayes, Gavin P.; Meyers, Emma K.; Dewey, James W.; Briggs, Richard W.; Earle, Paul S.; Benz, Harley M.; Smoczyk, Gregory M.; Flamme, Hanna E.; Barnhart, William D.; Gold, Ryan D.; Furlong, Kevin P.

2017-01-11

This paper describes the tectonic summaries for all magnitude 7 and larger earthquakes in the period 2000–2015, as produced by the U.S. Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center during their routine response operations to global earthquakes. The goal of such summaries is to provide important event-specific information to the public rapidly and concisely, such that recent earthquakes can be understood within a global and regional seismotectonic framework. We compile these summaries here to provide a long-term archive for this information, and so that the variability in tectonic setting and earthquake history from region to region, and sometimes within a given region, can be more clearly understood.

U.S. Tsunami Information technology (TIM) Modernization: Performance Assessment of Tsunamigenic Earthquake Discrimination System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hagerty, M. T.; Lomax, A.; Hellman, S. B.; Whitmore, P.; Weinstein, S.; Hirshorn, B. F.; Knight, W. R.

2015-12-01

Tsunami warning centers must rapidly decide whether an earthquake is likely to generate a destructive tsunami in order to issue a tsunami warning quickly after a large event. For very large events (Mw > 8 or so), magnitude and location alone are sufficient to warrant an alert. However, for events of smaller magnitude (e.g., Mw ~ 7.5), particularly for so-called "tsunami earthquakes", magnitude alone is insufficient to issue an alert and other measurements must be rapidly made and used to assess tsunamigenic potential. The Tsunami Information technology Modernization (TIM) is a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) project to update and standardize the earthquake and tsunami monitoring systems currently employed at the U.S. Tsunami Warning Centers in Ewa Beach, Hawaii (PTWC) and Palmer, Alaska (NTWC). We (ISTI) are responsible for implementing the seismic monitoring components in this new system, including real-time seismic data collection and seismic processing. The seismic data processor includes a variety of methods aimed at real-time discrimination of tsunamigenic events, including: Mwp, Me, slowness (Theta), W-phase, mantle magnitude (Mm), array processing and finite-fault inversion. In addition, it contains the ability to designate earthquake scenarios and play the resulting synthetic seismograms through the processing system. Thus, it is also a convenient tool that integrates research and monitoring and may be used to calibrate and tune the real-time monitoring system. Here we show results of the automated processing system for a large dataset of subduction zone earthquakes containing recent tsunami earthquakes and we examine the accuracy of the various discrimation methods and discuss issues related to their successful real-time application.

Understanding earthquake hazards in urban areas - Evansville Area Earthquake Hazards Mapping Project

USGS Publications Warehouse

Boyd, Oliver S.

2012-01-01

The region surrounding Evansville, Indiana, has experienced minor damage from earthquakes several times in the past 200 years. Because of this history and the proximity of Evansville to the Wabash Valley and New Madrid seismic zones, there is concern among nearby communities about hazards from earthquakes. Earthquakes currently cannot be predicted, but scientists can estimate how strongly the ground is likely to shake as a result of an earthquake and are able to design structures to withstand this estimated ground shaking. Earthquake-hazard maps provide one way of conveying such information and can help the region of Evansville prepare for future earthquakes and reduce earthquake-caused loss of life and financial and structural loss. The Evansville Area Earthquake Hazards Mapping Project (EAEHMP) has produced three types of hazard maps for the Evansville area: (1) probabilistic seismic-hazard maps show the ground motion that is expected to be exceeded with a given probability within a given period of time; (2) scenario ground-shaking maps show the expected shaking from two specific scenario earthquakes; (3) liquefaction-potential maps show how likely the strong ground shaking from the scenario earthquakes is to produce liquefaction. These maps complement the U.S. Geological Survey's National Seismic Hazard Maps but are more detailed regionally and take into account surficial geology, soil thickness, and soil stiffness; these elements greatly affect ground shaking.

A new way of telling earthquake stories: MOBEE - the MOBile Earthquake Exhibition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tataru, Dragos; Toma-Danila, Dragos; Nastase, Eduard

2016-04-01

In the last decades, the demand and acknowledged importance of science outreach, in general and geophysics in particular, has grown, as demonstrated by many international and national projects and other activities performed by research institutes. The National Institute for Earth Physics (NIEP) from Romania is the leading national institution on earthquake monitoring and research, having at the same time a declared focus on informing and educating a wide audience about geosciences and especially seismology. This is more than welcome, since Romania is a very active country from a seismological point of view, but not too reactive when it comes to diminishing the possible effect of a major earthquake. Over the last few decades, the country has experienced several major earthquakes which have claimed thousands of lives and millions in property damage (1940; 1977; 1986 and 1990 Vrancea earthquakes). In this context, during a partnership started in 2014 together with the National Art University and Siveco IT company, a group of researchers from NIEP initiated the MOBile Earthquake Exhibition (MOBEE) project. The main goal was to design a portable museum to bring on the road educational activities focused on seismology, seismic hazard and Earth science. The exhibition is mainly focused on school students of all ages as it explains the main topics of geophysics through a unique combination of posters, digital animations and apps, large markets and exciting hand-on experiments, 3D printed models and posters. This project is singular in Romania and aims to transmit properly reviewed actual information, regarding the definition of earthquakes, the way natural hazards can affect people, buildings and the environment and the measures to be taken for prevent an aftermath. Many of the presented concepts can be used by teachers as a complementary way of demonstrating physics facts and concepts and explaining processes that shape the dynamic Earth features. It also involves

Earthquakes

MedlinePlus

... Search Term(s): Main Content Home Be Informed Earthquakes Earthquakes An earthquake is the sudden, rapid shaking of the earth, ... by the breaking and shifting of underground rock. Earthquakes can cause buildings to collapse and cause heavy ...

Turning the rumor of May 11, 2011 earthquake prediction In Rome, Italy, into an information day on earthquake hazard

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amato, A.; Cultrera, G.; Margheriti, L.; Nostro, C.; Selvaggi, G.; INGVterremoti Team

2011-12-01

A devastating earthquake had been predicted for May 11, 2011 in Rome. This prediction was never released officially by anyone, but it grew up in the Internet and was amplified by media. It was erroneously ascribed to Raffaele Bendandi, an Italian self-taught natural scientist who studied planetary motions. Indeed, around May 11, 2011, a planetary alignment was really expected and this contributed to give credibility to the earthquake prediction among people. During the previous months, INGV was overwhelmed with requests for information about this supposed prediction by Roman inhabitants and tourists. Given the considerable mediatic impact of this expected earthquake, INGV decided to organize an Open Day in its headquarter in Rome for people who wanted to learn more about the Italian seismicity and the earthquake as natural phenomenon. The Open Day was preceded by a press conference two days before, in which we talked about this prediction, we presented the Open Day, and we had a scientific discussion with journalists about the earthquake prediction and more in general on the real problem of seismic risk in Italy. About 40 journalists from newspapers, local and national tv's, press agencies and web news attended the Press Conference and hundreds of articles appeared in the following days, advertising the 11 May Open Day. The INGV opened to the public all day long (9am - 9pm) with the following program: i) meetings with INGV researchers to discuss scientific issues; ii) visits to the seismic monitoring room, open 24h/7 all year; iii) guided tours through interactive exhibitions on earthquakes and Earth's deep structure; iv) lectures on general topics from the social impact of rumors to seismic risk reduction; v) 13 new videos on channel YouTube.com/INGVterremoti to explain the earthquake process and give updates on various aspects of seismic monitoring in Italy; vi) distribution of books and brochures. Surprisingly, more than 3000 visitors came to visit INGV

Do I Really Sound Like That? Communicating Earthquake Science Following Significant Earthquakes at the NEIC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hayes, G. P.; Earle, P. S.; Benz, H.; Wald, D. J.; Yeck, W. L.

2017-12-01

The U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) responds to about 160 magnitude 6.0 and larger earthquakes every year and is regularly inundated with information requests following earthquakes that cause significant impact. These requests often start within minutes after the shaking occurs and come from a wide user base including the general public, media, emergency managers, and government officials. Over the past several years, the NEIC's earthquake response has evolved its communications strategy to meet the changing needs of users and the evolving media landscape. The NEIC produces a cascade of products starting with basic hypocentral parameters and culminating with estimates of fatalities and economic loss. We speed the delivery of content by prepositioning and automatically generating products such as, aftershock plots, regional tectonic summaries, maps of historical seismicity, and event summary posters. Our goal is to have information immediately available so we can quickly address the response needs of a particular event or sequence. This information is distributed to hundreds of thousands of users through social media, email alerts, programmatic data feeds, and webpages. Many of our products are included in event summary posters that can be downloaded and printed for local display. After significant earthquakes, keeping up with direct inquiries and interview requests from TV, radio, and print reports is always challenging. The NEIC works with the USGS Office of Communications and the USGS Science Information Services to organize and respond to these requests. Written executive summaries reports are produced and distributed to USGS personnel and collaborators throughout the country. These reports are updated during the response to keep our message consistent and information up to date. This presentation will focus on communications during NEIC's rapid earthquake response but will also touch on the broader USGS traditional and

Earthquakes in Arkansas and vicinity 1699-2010

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dart, Richard L.; Ausbrooks, Scott M.

2011-01-01

This map summarizes approximately 300 years of earthquake activity in Arkansas. It is one in a series of similar State earthquake history maps. Work on the Arkansas map was done in collaboration with the Arkansas Geological Survey. The earthquake data plotted on the map are from several sources: the Arkansas Geological Survey, the Center for Earthquake Research and Information, the National Center for Earthquake Engineering Research, and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality. In addition to earthquake locations, other materials presented include seismic hazard and isoseismal maps and related text. Earthquakes are a legitimate concern in Arkansas and parts of adjacent states. Arkansas has undergone a number of significant felt earthquakes since 1811. At least two of these events caused property damage: a magnitude 4.7 earthquake in 1931, and a magnitude 4.3 earthquake in 1967. The map shows all historical and instrumentally located earthquakes in Arkansas and vicinity between 1811 and 2010. The largest historic earthquake in the vicinity of the State was an intensity XI event, on December 16, 1811; the first earthquake in the New Madrid sequence. This violent event and the earthquakes that followed caused considerable damage to the then sparsely settled region.

Earthquakes in Mississippi and vicinity 1811-2010

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dart, Richard L.; Bograd, Michael B.E.

2011-01-01

This map summarizes two centuries of earthquake activity in Mississippi. Work on the Mississippi map was done in collaboration with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, Office of Geology. The earthquake data plotted on the map are from several sources: the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, the Center for Earthquake Research and Information, the National Center for Earthquake Engineering Research, and the Arkansas Geological Survey. In addition to earthquake locations, other materials include seismic hazard and isoseismal maps and related text. Earthquakes are a legitimate concern in Mississippi and parts of adjacent States. Mississippi has undergone a number of felt earthquakes since 1811. At least two of these events caused property damage: a magnitude 4.7 earthquake in 1931, and a magnitude 4.3 earthquake in 1967. The map shows all historical and instrumentally located earthquakes in Mississippi and vicinity between 1811 and 2010. The largest historic earthquake in the vicinity of the State was an intensity XI event, on December 16, 1811; the first earthquake in the New Madrid sequence. This violent event and the earthquakes that followed caused considerable damage to the then sparsely settled region.

The Electronic Encyclopedia of Earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benthien, M.; Marquis, J.; Jordan, T.

2003-12-01

The Electronic Encyclopedia of Earthquakes is a collaborative project of the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC), the Consortia of Universities for Research in Earthquake Engineering (CUREE) and the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS). This digital library organizes earthquake information online as a partner with the NSF-funded National Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Digital Library (NSDL) and the Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE). When complete, information and resources for over 500 Earth science and engineering topics will be included, with connections to curricular materials useful for teaching Earth Science, engineering, physics and mathematics. Although conceived primarily as an educational resource, the Encyclopedia is also a valuable portal to anyone seeking up-to-date earthquake information and authoritative technical sources. "E3" is a unique collaboration among earthquake scientists and engineers to articulate and document a common knowledge base with a shared terminology and conceptual framework. It is a platform for cross-training scientists and engineers in these complementary fields and will provide a basis for sustained communication and resource-building between major education and outreach activities. For example, the E3 collaborating organizations have leadership roles in the two largest earthquake engineering and earth science projects ever sponsored by NSF: the George E. Brown Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (CUREE) and the EarthScope Project (IRIS and SCEC). The E3 vocabulary and definitions are also being connected to a formal ontology under development by the SCEC/ITR project for knowledge management within the SCEC Collaboratory. The E3 development system is now fully operational, 165 entries are in the pipeline, and the development teams are capable of producing 20 new, fully reviewed encyclopedia entries each month. Over the next two years teams will

[Medical rescue of China National Earthquake Disaster Emergency Search and Rescue Team in Lushan earthquake].

PubMed

Liu, Ya-hua; Yang, Hui-ning; Liu, Hui-liang; Wang, Fan; Hu, Li-bin; Zheng, Jing-chen

2013-05-01

To summarize and analyze the medical mission of China National Earthquake Disaster Emergency Search and Rescue Team (CNESAR) in Lushan earthquake, to promote the medical rescue effectiveness incorporated with search and rescue. Retrospective analysis of medical work data by CNESAR from April 21th, 2013 to April 27th during Lushan earthquake rescue, including the medical staff dispatch and the wounded case been treated. The reasonable medical corps was composed by 22 members, including 2 administrators, 11 doctors [covering emergency medicine, orthopedics (joints and limbs, spinal), obstetrics and gynecology, gastroenterology, cardiology, ophthalmology, anesthesiology, medical rescue, health epidemic prevention, clinical laboratory of 11 specialties], 1 ultrasound technician, 5 nurses, 1 pharmacist, 1 medical instrument engineer and 1 office worker for propaganda. There were two members having psychological consultants qualifications. The medical work were carried out in seven aspects, including medical care assurance for the CNESAR members, first aid cooperation with search and rescue on site, clinical work in refugees' camp, medical round service for scattered village people, evacuation for the wounded, mental intervention, and the sanitary and anti-epidemic work. The medical work covered 24 small towns, and medical staff established 3 medical clinics at Taiping Town, Shuangshi Town of Lushan County and Baoxing County. Medical rescue, mental intervention for the old and kids, and sanitary and anti-epidemic were performed at the above sites. The medical corps had successful evacuated 2 severe wounded patients and treated the wounded over thousands. Most of the wounded were soft tissue injuries, external injury, respiratory tract infections, diarrhea, and heat stroke. Compared with the rescue action in 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, the aggregation and departure of rescue team in Lushan earthquake, the traffic control order in disaster area, the self-aid and buddy aid

Connecting slow earthquakes to huge earthquakes.

PubMed

Obara, Kazushige; Kato, Aitaro

2016-07-15

Slow earthquakes are characterized by a wide spectrum of fault slip behaviors and seismic radiation patterns that differ from those of traditional earthquakes. However, slow earthquakes and huge megathrust earthquakes can have common slip mechanisms and are located in neighboring regions of the seismogenic zone. The frequent occurrence of slow earthquakes may help to reveal the physics underlying megathrust events as useful analogs. Slow earthquakes may function as stress meters because of their high sensitivity to stress changes in the seismogenic zone. Episodic stress transfer to megathrust source faults leads to an increased probability of triggering huge earthquakes if the adjacent locked region is critically loaded. Careful and precise monitoring of slow earthquakes may provide new information on the likelihood of impending huge earthquakes. Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Assessing Lay Understanding of Common Presentations of Earthquake Hazard Information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thompson, K. J.; Krantz, D. H.

2010-12-01

The Working Group on California Earthquake Probabilities (WGCEP) includes, in its introduction to earthquake rupture forecast maps, the assertion that "In daily living, people are used to making decisions based on probabilities -- from the flip of a coin (50% probability of heads) to weather forecasts (such as a 30% chance of rain) to the annual chance of being killed by lightning (about 0.0003%)." [3] However, psychology research identifies a large gap between lay and expert perception of risk for various hazards [2], and cognitive psychologists have shown in numerous studies [1,4-6] that people neglect, distort, misjudge, or misuse probabilities, even when given strong guidelines about the meaning of numerical or verbally stated probabilities [7]. The gap between lay and expert use of probability needs to be recognized more clearly by scientific organizations such as WGCEP. This study undertakes to determine how the lay public interprets earthquake hazard information, as presented in graphical map form by the Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (UCERF), compiled by the WGCEP and other bodies including the USGS and CGS. It also explores alternate ways of presenting hazard data, to determine which presentation format most effectively translates information from scientists to public. Participants both from California and from elsewhere in the United States are included, to determine whether familiarity -- either with the experience of an earthquake, or with the geography of the forecast area -- affects people's ability to interpret an earthquake hazards map. We hope that the comparisons between the interpretations by scientific experts and by different groups of laypeople will both enhance theoretical understanding of factors that affect information transmission and assist bodies such as the WGCEP in their laudable attempts to help people prepare themselves and their communities for possible natural hazards. [1] Kahneman, D & Tversky, A (1979). Prospect

Incorporating Real-time Earthquake Information into Large Enrollment Natural Disaster Course Learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Furlong, K. P.; Benz, H.; Hayes, G. P.; Villasenor, A.

2010-12-01

Although most would agree that the occurrence of natural disaster events such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and floods can provide effective learning opportunities for natural hazards-based courses, implementing compelling materials into the large-enrollment classroom environment can be difficult. These natural hazard events derive much of their learning potential from their real-time nature, and in the modern 24/7 news-cycle where all but the most devastating events are quickly out of the public eye, the shelf life for an event is quite limited. To maximize the learning potential of these events requires that both authoritative information be available and course materials be generated as the event unfolds. Although many events such as hurricanes, flooding, and volcanic eruptions provide some precursory warnings, and thus one can prepare background materials to place the main event into context, earthquakes present a particularly confounding situation of providing no warning, but where context is critical to student learning. Attempting to implement real-time materials into large enrollment classes faces the additional hindrance of limited internet access (for students) in most lecture classrooms. In Earth 101 Natural Disasters: Hollywood vs Reality, taught as a large enrollment (150+ students) general education course at Penn State, we are collaborating with the USGS’s National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) to develop efficient means to incorporate their real-time products into learning activities in the lecture hall environment. Over time (and numerous events) we have developed a template for presenting USGS-produced real-time information in lecture mode. The event-specific materials can be quickly incorporated and updated, along with key contextual materials, to provide students with up-to-the-minute current information. In addition, we have also developed in-class activities, such as student determination of population exposure to severe ground

An Earthquake Information Service with Free and Open Source Tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schroeder, M.; Stender, V.; Jüngling, S.

2015-12-01

At the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam, the working group Earthquakes and Volcano Physics examines the spatiotemporal behavior of earthquakes. In this context also the hazards of volcanic eruptions and tsunamis are explored. The aim is to collect related information after the occurrence of such extreme event and make them available for science and partly to the public as quickly as possible. However, the overall objective of this research is to reduce the geological risks that emanate from such natural hazards. In order to meet the stated objectives and to get a quick overview about the seismicity of a particular region and to compare the situation to historical events, a comprehensive visualization was desired. Based on the web-accessible data from the famous GFZ GEOFON network a user-friendly web mapping application was realized. Further, this web service integrates historical and current earthquake information from the USGS earthquake database, and more historical events from various other catalogues like Pacheco, International Seismological Centre (ISC) and more. This compilation of sources is unique in Earth sciences. Additionally, information about historical and current occurrences of volcanic eruptions and tsunamis are also retrievable. Another special feature in the application is the containment of times via a time shifting tool. Users can interactively vary the visualization by moving the time slider. Furthermore, the application was realized by using the newest JavaScript libraries which enables the application to run in all sizes of displays and devices. Our contribution will present the making of, the architecture behind, and few examples of the look and feel of this application.

Real-Time Data Processing Systems and Products at the Alaska Earthquake Information Center

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruppert, N. A.; Hansen, R. A.

2007-05-01

The Alaska Earthquake Information Center (AEIC) receives data from over 400 seismic sites located within the state boundaries and the surrounding regions and serves as a regional data center. In 2007, the AEIC reported ~20,000 seismic events, with the largest event of M6.6 in Andreanof Islands. The real-time earthquake detection and data processing systems at AEIC are based on the Antelope system from BRTT, Inc. This modular and extensible processing platform allows an integrated system complete from data acquisition to catalog production. Multiple additional modules constructed with the Antelope toolbox have been developed to fit particular needs of the AEIC. The real-time earthquake locations and magnitudes are determined within 2-5 minutes of the event occurrence. AEIC maintains a 24/7 seismologist-on-duty schedule. Earthquake alarms are based on the real- time earthquake detections. Significant events are reviewed by the seismologist on duty within 30 minutes of the occurrence with information releases issued for significant events. This information is disseminated immediately via the AEIC website, ANSS website via QDDS submissions, through e-mail, cell phone and pager notifications, via fax broadcasts and recorded voice-mail messages. In addition, automatic regional moment tensors are determined for events with M>=4.0. This information is posted on the public website. ShakeMaps are being calculated in real-time with the information currently accessible via a password-protected website. AEIC is designing an alarm system targeted for the critical lifeline operations in Alaska. AEIC maintains an extensive computer network to provide adequate support for data processing and archival. For real-time processing, AEIC operates two identical, interoperable computer systems in parallel.

Conducting a desk review to inform the mental health and psychosocial support response to the 2016 Ecuador earthquake

PubMed Central

Troya, M. Isabela; Greene, M. Claire; Santos, Clara Gesteira; Shultz, James M.

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT Following the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Ecuador on 16 April 2016, multiple salient public health concerns were raised, including the need to provide mental health and psychosocial support for individual survivors and their communities. The World Health Organization and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees recommend conducting a desk review to summarize existing information, specific to the affected communities, that will support timely, culturally-attuned assessment and delivery of mental health and psychosocial support shortly after the onset of a disaster or humanitarian emergency. The desk review is one component of a comprehensive toolkit designed to inform and support humanitarian actors and their responders in the field. This commentary provides a case example of the development of a desk review that was used to inform personnel responding to the 2016 earthquake in Ecuador. The desk review process is described in addition to several innovations that were introduced to the process during this iteration. Strengths and limitations are discussed, as well as lessons learned and recommendations for future applications. PMID:28265485

A revised “earthquake report” questionaire

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stover, C.; Reagor, G.; Simon, R.

1976-01-01

The U.S geological Survey is responsible for conducting intensity and damage surveys following felt or destructive earthquakes in the United States. Shortly after a felt or damaging earthquake occurs, a canvass of the affected area is made. Specially developed questionnaires are mailed to volunteer observers located within the estimated felt area. These questionnaires, "Earthquake Reports," are filled out by the observers and returned to the Survey's National Earthquake Information Service, which is located in Colorado. They are then evaluated, and, based on answers to questions about physical effects seen or felt, each canvassed location is assigned to the various locations, they are plotted on an intensity distribution map. When all of the intensity data have been plotted, isoseismals can then be contoured through places where equal intensity was experienced. The completed isoseismal map yields a detailed picture of the earthquake, its effects, and its felt area. All of the data and maps are published quarterly in a U.S Geological Survey Circular series entitled "Earthquakes in the United States".  

Earthquake ethics through scientific knowledge, historical memory and societal awareness: the experience of direct internet information.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Rubeis, Valerio; Sbarra, Paola; Sebaste, Beppe; Tosi, Patrizia

2013-04-01

The experience of collection of data on earthquake effects and diffusion of information to people, carried on through the site "haisentitoilterremoto.it" (didyoufeelit) managed by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), has evidenced a constantly growing interest by Italian citizens. Started in 2007, the site has collected more than 520,000 compiled intensity questionnaires, producing intensity maps of almost 6,000 earthquakes. One of the most peculiar feature of this experience is constituted by a bi-directional information exchange. Every person can record observed effects of the earthquake and, at the same time, look at the generated maps. Seismologists, on the other side, can find each earthquake described in real time through its effects on the whole territory. In this way people, giving punctual information, receive global information from the community, mediated and interpreted by seismological knowledge. The relationship amongst seismologists, mass media and civil society is, thus, deep and rich. The presence of almost 20,000 permanent subscribers distributed on the whole Italian territory, alerted in case of earthquake, has reinforced the participation: the subscriber is constantly informed by the seismologists, through e-mail, about events occurred in his-her area, even if with very small magnitude. The "alert" service provides the possibility to remember that earthquakes are a phenomenon continuously present, on the other hand it shows that high magnitude events are very rare. This kind of information is helpful as it is fully complementary to that one given by media. We analyze the effects of our activity on society and mass media. The knowledge of seismic phenomena is present in each person, having roots on fear, idea of death and destruction, often with the deep belief of very rare occurrence. This position feeds refusal and repression. When a strong earthquake occurs, surprise immediately changes into shock and desperation. A

How citizen seismology is transforming rapid public earthquake information and interactions between seismologists and society

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bossu, Rémy; Steed, Robert; Mazet-Roux, Gilles; Roussel, Fréderic; Caroline, Etivant

2015-04-01

Historical earthquakes are only known to us through written recollections and so seismologists have a long experience of interpreting the reports of eyewitnesses, explaining probably why seismology has been a pioneer in crowdsourcing and citizen science. Today, Internet has been transforming this situation; It can be considered as the digital nervous system comprising of digital veins and intertwined sensors that capture the pulse of our planet in near real-time. How can both seismology and public could benefit from this new monitoring system? This paper will present the strategy implemented at Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) to leverage this new nervous system to detect and diagnose the impact of earthquakes within minutes rather than hours and how it transformed information systems and interactions with the public. We will show how social network monitoring and flashcrowds (massive website traffic increases on EMSC website) are used to automatically detect felt earthquakes before seismic detections, how damaged areas can me mapped through concomitant loss of Internet sessions (visitors being disconnected) and the benefit of collecting felt reports and geolocated pictures to further constrain rapid impact assessment of global earthquakes. We will also describe how public expectations within tens of seconds of ground shaking are at the basis of improved diversified information tools which integrate this user generated contents. A special attention will be given to LastQuake, the most complex and sophisticated Twitter QuakeBot, smartphone application and browser add-on, which deals with the only earthquakes that matter for the public: the felt and damaging earthquakes. In conclusion we will demonstrate that eyewitnesses are today real time earthquake sensors and active actors of rapid earthquake information.

OMG Earthquake! Can Twitter improve earthquake response?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Earle, P. S.; Guy, M.; Ostrum, C.; Horvath, S.; Buckmaster, R. A.

2009-12-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is investigating how the social networking site Twitter, a popular service for sending and receiving short, public, text messages, can augment its earthquake response products and the delivery of hazard information. The goal is to gather near real-time, earthquake-related messages (tweets) and provide geo-located earthquake detections and rough maps of the corresponding felt areas. Twitter and other social Internet technologies are providing the general public with anecdotal earthquake hazard information before scientific information has been published from authoritative sources. People local to an event often publish information within seconds via these technologies. In contrast, depending on the location of the earthquake, scientific alerts take between 2 to 20 minutes. Examining the tweets following the March 30, 2009, M4.3 Morgan Hill earthquake shows it is possible (in some cases) to rapidly detect and map the felt area of an earthquake using Twitter responses. Within a minute of the earthquake, the frequency of “earthquake” tweets rose above the background level of less than 1 per hour to about 150 per minute. Using the tweets submitted in the first minute, a rough map of the felt area can be obtained by plotting the tweet locations. Mapping the tweets from the first six minutes shows observations extending from Monterey to Sacramento, similar to the perceived shaking region mapped by the USGS “Did You Feel It” system. The tweets submitted after the earthquake also provided (very) short first-impression narratives from people who experienced the shaking. Accurately assessing the potential and robustness of a Twitter-based system is difficult because only tweets spanning the previous seven days can be searched, making a historical study impossible. We have, however, been archiving tweets for several months, and it is clear that significant limitations do exist. The main drawback is the lack of quantitative information

How citizen seismology is transforming rapid public earthquake information: the example of LastQuake smartphone application and Twitter QuakeBot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bossu, R.; Etivant, C.; Roussel, F.; Mazet-Roux, G.; Steed, R.

2014-12-01

Smartphone applications have swiftly become one of the most popular tools for rapid reception of earthquake information for the public. Wherever someone's own location is, they can be automatically informed when an earthquake has struck just by setting a magnitude threshold and an area of interest. No need to browse the internet: the information reaches you automatically and instantaneously! One question remains: are the provided earthquake notifications always relevant for the public? A while after damaging earthquakes many eyewitnesses scrap the application they installed just after the mainshock. Why? Because either the magnitude threshold is set too high and many felt earthquakes are missed, or it is set too low and the majority of the notifications are related to unfelt earthquakes thereby only increasing anxiety among the population at each new update. Felt and damaging earthquakes are the ones of societal importance even when of small magnitude. LastQuake app and Twitter feed (QuakeBot) focuses on these earthquakes that matter for the public by collating different information threads covering tsunamigenic, damaging and felt earthquakes. Non-seismic detections and macroseismic questionnaires collected online are combined to identify felt earthquakes regardless their magnitude. Non seismic detections include Twitter earthquake detections, developed by the USGS, where the number of tweets containing the keyword "earthquake" is monitored in real time and flashsourcing, developed by the EMSC, which detect traffic surges on its rapid earthquake information website caused by the natural convergence of eyewitnesses who rush to the Internet to investigate the cause of the shaking that they have just felt. We will present the identification process of the felt earthquakes, the smartphone application and the 27 automatically generated tweets and how, by providing better public services, we collect more data from citizens.

Scientists Engage South Carolina Community in Earthquake Education and Preparedness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hall, C.; Beutel, E.; Jaume', S.; Levine, N.; Doyle, B.

2008-12-01

Scientists at the College of Charleston are working with the state of South Carolina's Emergency Management Division to increase awareness and understanding of earthquake hazards throughout South Carolina. As part of this mission, the SCEEP (South Carolina Earthquake Education and Preparedness) program was formed at the College of Charleston to promote earthquake research, outreach, and education in the state of South Carolina. Working with local, regional, state and federal offices, SCEEP has developed education programs for everyone from professional hazard management teams to formal and informal educators. SCEEP also works with the media to ensure accurate reporting of earthquake and other hazard information and to increase the public's understanding of earthquake science and earthquake seismology. As part of this program, we have developed a series of activities that can be checked out by educators for use in their classrooms and in informal education venues. These activities are designed to provide educators with the information and tools they lack to adequately, informatively, and enjoyably teach about earthquake and earth science. The toolkits contain seven activities meeting a variety of National Education Standards, not only in Science, but also in Geography, Math, Social Studies, Arts Education, History and Language Arts - providing a truly multidisciplinary toolkit for educators. The activities provide information on earthquake myths, seismic waves, elastic rebound, vectors, liquefaction, location of an epicenter, and then finally South Carolina earthquakes. The activities are engaging and inquiry based, implementing proven effective strategies for peaking learners' interest in scientific phenomena. All materials are provided within the toolkit and so it is truly check and go. While the SCEEP team has provided instructions and grade level suggestions for implementing the activity in an educational setting, the educator has full reign on what to showcase

Operational earthquake forecasting can enhance earthquake preparedness

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jordan, T.H.; Marzocchi, W.; Michael, A.J.; Gerstenberger, M.C.

2014-01-01

We cannot yet predict large earthquakes in the short term with much reliability and skill, but the strong clustering exhibited in seismic sequences tells us that earthquake probabilities are not constant in time; they generally rise and fall over periods of days to years in correlation with nearby seismic activity. Operational earthquake forecasting (OEF) is the dissemination of authoritative information about these time‐dependent probabilities to help communities prepare for potentially destructive earthquakes. The goal of OEF is to inform the decisions that people and organizations must continually make to mitigate seismic risk and prepare for potentially destructive earthquakes on time scales from days to decades. To fulfill this role, OEF must provide a complete description of the seismic hazard—ground‐motion exceedance probabilities as well as short‐term rupture probabilities—in concert with the long‐term forecasts of probabilistic seismic‐hazard analysis (PSHA).

Performance of Real-time Earthquake Information System in Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakamura, H.; Horiuchi, S.; Wu, C.; Yamamoto, S.

2008-12-01

Horiuchi et al. (2005) developed a real-time earthquake information system (REIS) using Hi-net, a densely deployed nationwide seismic network, which consists of about 800 stations operated by NIED, Japan. REIS determines hypocenter locations and earthquake magnitudes automatically within a few seconds after P waves arrive at the closest station and calculates focal mechanisms within about 15 seconds. Obtained hypocenter parameters are transferred immediately by using XML format to a computer in Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), who started the service of EEW to special users in June 2005. JMA also developed EEW using 200 stations. The results by the two systems are merged. Among all the first issued EEW reports by both systems, REIS information accounts for about 80 percent. This study examines the rapidity and credibility of REIS by analyzing the 4050 earthquakes which occurred around the Japan Islands since 2005 with magnitude larger than 3.0. REIS re-determines hypocenter parameters every one second according to the revision of waveform data. Here, we discuss only about the results by the first reports. On rapidness, our results show that about 44 percent of the first reports are issued within 5 seconds after the P waves arrives at the closest stations. Note that this 5-second time window includes time delay due to data package and transmission delay of about 2 seconds. REIS waits till two stations detect P waves for events in the network but four stations outside the network so as to get reliable solutions. For earthquakes with hypocentral distance less than 100km, 55 percent of earthquakes are warned in 5 seconds and 87 percent are warned in 10 seconds. Most of events having long time delay are small and triggered by S wave arrivals. About 80 percent of events have difference in epicenter distances less than 20km relative to JMA manually determined locations. Because of the existence of large lateral heterogeneity in seismic velocity, the difference depends

Rapid characterization of the 2015 Mw 7.8 Gorkha, Nepal, earthquake sequence and its seismotectonic context

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hayes, Gavin; Briggs, Richard; Barnhart, William D.; Yeck, William; McNamara, Daniel E.; Wald, David J.; Nealy, Jennifer; Benz, Harley M.; Gold, Ryan D.; Jaiswal, Kishor S.; Marano, Kristin; Earle, Paul S.; Hearne, Mike; Smoczyk, Gregory M.; Wald, Lisa A.; Samsonov, Sergey

2015-01-01

Earthquake response and related information products are important for placing recent seismic events into context and particularly for understanding the impact earthquakes can have on the regional community and its infrastructure. These tools are even more useful if they are available quickly, ahead of detailed information from the areas affected by such earthquakes. Here we provide an overview of the response activities and related information products generated and provided by the U.S. Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center in association with the 2015 M 7.8 Gorkha, Nepal, earthquake. This group monitors global earthquakes 24  hrs/day and 7  days/week to provide rapid information on the location and size of recent events and to characterize the source properties, tectonic setting, and potential fatalities and economic losses associated with significant earthquakes. We present the timeline over which these products became available, discuss what they tell us about the seismotectonics of the Gorkha earthquake and its aftershocks, and examine how their information is used today, and might be used in the future, to help mitigate the impact of such natural disasters.

Investigating landslides caused by earthquakes - A historical review

USGS Publications Warehouse

Keefer, D.K.

2002-01-01

Post-earthquake field investigations of landslide occurrence have provided a basis for understanding, evaluating, and mapping the hazard and risk associated with earthquake-induced landslides. This paper traces the historical development of knowledge derived from these investigations. Before 1783, historical accounts of the occurrence of landslides in earthquake are typically so incomplete and vague that conclusions based on these accounts are of limited usefulness. For example, the number of landslides triggered by a given event is almost always greatly underestimated. The first formal, scientific post-earthquake investigation that included systematic documentation of the landslides was undertaken in the Calabria region of Italy after the 1783 earthquake swarm. From then until the mid-twentieth century, the best information on earthquake-induced landslides came from a succession of post-earthquake investigations largely carried out by formal commissions that undertook extensive ground-based field studies. Beginning in the mid-twentieth century, when the use of aerial photography became widespread, comprehensive inventories of landslide occurrence have been made for several earthquakes in the United States, Peru, Guatemala, Italy, El Salvador, Japan, and Taiwan. Techniques have also been developed for performing "retrospective" analyses years or decades after an earthquake that attempt to reconstruct the distribution of landslides triggered by the event. The additional use of Geographic Information System (GIS) processing and digital mapping since about 1989 has greatly facilitated the level of analysis that can applied to mapped distributions of landslides. Beginning in 1984, synthesis of worldwide and national data on earthquake-induced landslides have defined their general characteristics and relations between their occurrence and various geologic and seismic parameters. However, the number of comprehensive post-earthquake studies of landslides is still

Geographical Information Analysis of Tsunami Flooded Area by the Great East Japan Earthquake Using Mobile Mapping System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koarai, M.; Okatani, T.; Nakano, T.; Nakamura, T.; Hasegawa, M.

2012-07-01

The great earthquake occurred in Tohoku District, Japan on 11th March, 2011. This earthquake is named "the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake", and the damage by this earthquake is named "the Great East Japan Earthquake". About twenty thousand people were killed or lost by the tsunami of this earthquake, and large area was flooded and a large number of buildings were destroyed by the tsunami. The Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI) has provided the data of tsunami flooded area interpreted from aerial photos taken just after the great earthquake. This is fundamental data of tsunami damage and very useful for consideration of reconstruction planning of tsunami damaged area. The authors analyzed the relationship among land use, landform classification, DEMs data flooded depth of the tsunami flooded area by the Great East Japan Earthquake in the Sendai Plain using GIS. Land use data is 100 meter grid data of National Land Information Data by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transportation and Tourism (MLIT). Landform classification data is vector data of Land Condition Map produced by GSI. DEMs data are 5 meters grid data measured with LiDAR by GSI after earthquake. Especially, the authors noticed the relationship between tsunami hazard damage and flooded depth. The authors divided tsunami damage into three categories by interpreting aerial photos; first is the completely destroyed area where almost wooden buildings were lost, second is the heavily damaged area where a large number of houses were destroyed by the tsunami, and third is the flooded only area where houses were less destroyed. The flooded depth was measured by photogrammetric method using digital image taken by Mobile Mapping System (MMS). The result of these geographic analyses show the distribution of tsunami damage level is as follows: 1) The completely destroyed area was located within 1km area from the coastline, flooded depth of this area is over 4m, and no relationship

Turkish Compulsory Earthquake Insurance and "Istanbul Earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Durukal, E.; Sesetyan, K.; Erdik, M.

2009-04-01

The city of Istanbul will likely experience substantial direct and indirect losses as a result of a future large (M=7+) earthquake with an annual probability of occurrence of about 2%. This paper dwells on the expected building losses in terms of probable maximum and average annualized losses and discusses the results from the perspective of the compulsory earthquake insurance scheme operational in the country. The TCIP system is essentially designed to operate in Turkey with sufficient penetration to enable the accumulation of funds in the pool. Today, with only 20% national penetration, and about approximately one-half of all policies in highly earthquake prone areas (one-third in Istanbul) the system exhibits signs of adverse selection, inadequate premium structure and insufficient funding. Our findings indicate that the national compulsory earthquake insurance pool in Turkey will face difficulties in covering incurring building losses in Istanbul in the occurrence of a large earthquake. The annualized earthquake losses in Istanbul are between 140-300 million. Even if we assume that the deductible is raised to 15%, the earthquake losses that need to be paid after a large earthquake in Istanbul will be at about 2.5 Billion, somewhat above the current capacity of the TCIP. Thus, a modification to the system for the insured in Istanbul (or Marmara region) is necessary. This may mean an increase in the premia and deductible rates, purchase of larger re-insurance covers and development of a claim processing system. Also, to avoid adverse selection, the penetration rates elsewhere in Turkey need to be increased substantially. A better model would be introduction of parametric insurance for Istanbul. By such a model the losses will not be indemnified, however will be directly calculated on the basis of indexed ground motion levels and damages. The immediate improvement of a parametric insurance model over the existing one will be the elimination of the claim processing

The USGS Earthquake Notification Service (ENS): Customizable notifications of earthquakes around the globe

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wald, Lisa A.; Wald, David J.; Schwarz, Stan; Presgrave, Bruce; Earle, Paul S.; Martinez, Eric; Oppenheimer, David

2008-01-01

At the beginning of 2006, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earthquake Hazards Program (EHP) introduced a new automated Earthquake Notification Service (ENS) to take the place of the National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) "Bigquake" system and the various other individual EHP e-mail list-servers for separate regions in the United States. These included northern California, southern California, and the central and eastern United States. ENS is a "one-stop shopping" system that allows Internet users to subscribe to flexible and customizable notifications for earthquakes anywhere in the world. The customization capability allows users to define the what (magnitude threshold), the when (day and night thresholds), and the where (specific regions) for their notifications. Customization is achieved by employing a per-user based request profile, allowing the notifications to be tailored for each individual's requirements. Such earthquake-parameter-specific custom delivery was not possible with simple e-mail list-servers. Now that event and user profiles are in a structured query language (SQL) database, additional flexibility is possible. At the time of this writing, ENS had more than 114,000 subscribers, with more than 200,000 separate user profiles. On a typical day, more than 188,000 messages get sent to a variety of widely distributed users for a wide range of earthquake locations and magnitudes. The purpose of this article is to describe how ENS works, highlight the features it offers, and summarize plans for future developments.

International Collaboration for Strengthening Capacity to Assess Earthquake Hazard in Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cummins, P. R.; Hidayati, S.; Suhardjono, S.; Meilano, I.; Natawidjaja, D.

2012-12-01

Indonesia has experienced a dramatic increase in earthquake risk due to rapid population growth in the 20th century, much of it occurring in areas near the subduction zone plate boundaries that are prone to earthquake occurrence. While recent seismic hazard assessments have resulted in better building codes that can inform safer building practices, many of the fundamental parameters controlling earthquake occurrence and ground shaking - e.g., fault slip rates, earthquake scaling relations, ground motion prediction equations, and site response - could still be better constrained. In recognition of the need to improve the level of information on which seismic hazard assessments are based, the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and Indonesia's National Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB), through the Australia-Indonesia Facility for Disaster Reduction, have initiated a 4-year project designed to strengthen the Government of Indonesia's capacity to reliably assess earthquake hazard. This project is a collaboration of Australian institutions including Geoscience Australia and the Australian National University, with Indonesian government agencies and universities including the Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics, the Geological Agency, the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, and Bandung Institute of Technology. Effective earthquake hazard assessment requires input from many different types of research, ranging from geological studies of active faults, seismological studies of crustal structure, earthquake sources and ground motion, PSHA methodology, and geodetic studies of crustal strain rates. The project is a large and diverse one that spans all these components, and these will be briefly reviewed in this presentation

Investigating Landslides Caused by Earthquakes A Historical Review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keefer, David K.

Post-earthquake field investigations of landslide occurrence have provided a basis for understanding, evaluating, and mapping the hazard and risk associated withearthquake-induced landslides. This paper traces thehistorical development of knowledge derived from these investigations. Before 1783, historical accounts of the occurrence of landslides in earthquakes are typically so incomplete and vague that conclusions based on these accounts are of limited usefulness. For example, the number of landslides triggered by a given event is almost always greatly underestimated. The first formal, scientific post-earthquake investigation that included systematic documentation of the landslides was undertaken in the Calabria region of Italy after the 1783 earthquake swarm. From then until the mid-twentieth century, the best information on earthquake-induced landslides came from a succession ofpost-earthquake investigations largely carried out by formal commissions that undertook extensive ground-based field studies. Beginning in the mid-twentieth century, when the use of aerial photography became widespread, comprehensive inventories of landslide occurrence have been made for several earthquakes in the United States, Peru, Guatemala, Italy, El Salvador, Japan, and Taiwan. Techniques have also been developed for performing ``retrospective'' analyses years or decades after an earthquake that attempt to reconstruct the distribution of landslides triggered by the event. The additional use of Geographic Information System (GIS) processing and digital mapping since about 1989 has greatly facilitated the level of analysis that can applied to mapped distributions of landslides. Beginning in 1984, syntheses of worldwide and national data on earthquake-induced landslides have defined their general characteristics and relations between their occurrence and various geologic and seismic parameters. However, the number of comprehensive post-earthquake studies of landslides is still

Understanding earthquake from the granular physics point of view — Causes of earthquake, earthquake precursors and predictions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Kunquan; Hou, Meiying; Jiang, Zehui; Wang, Qiang; Sun, Gang; Liu, Jixing

2018-03-01

We treat the earth crust and mantle as large scale discrete matters based on the principles of granular physics and existing experimental observations. Main outcomes are: A granular model of the structure and movement of the earth crust and mantle is established. The formation mechanism of the tectonic forces, which causes the earthquake, and a model of propagation for precursory information are proposed. Properties of the seismic precursory information and its relevance with the earthquake occurrence are illustrated, and principle of ways to detect the effective seismic precursor is elaborated. The mechanism of deep-focus earthquake is also explained by the jamming-unjamming transition of the granular flow. Some earthquake phenomena which were previously difficult to understand are explained, and the predictability of the earthquake is discussed. Due to the discrete nature of the earth crust and mantle, the continuum theory no longer applies during the quasi-static seismological process. In this paper, based on the principles of granular physics, we study the causes of earthquakes, earthquake precursors and predictions, and a new understanding, different from the traditional seismological viewpoint, is obtained.

Impact of Wenchuan earthquake on the giant panda habitat in Wolong National Nature Reserve, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kou, Cheng; Xu, Yu-Yue; Ke, Chang-Qing; He, Yu-Ting

2014-01-01

Monitoring the change of the giant panda habitat is essential to protect this endangered species. The Wolong National Nature Reserve (WNNR) of China, the giant panda habitat, was struck by the Wenchuan earthquake (M=8.0) on May 12, 2008, and was seriously damaged. Landsat images covering the WNNR on four dates, one before and three after the earthquake, are classified using support vector machines to generate land cover maps (with an overall accuracy of ˜90% and Kappa coefficients of ˜0.86). The habitat suitability index and weighted usable area (WUA) are calculated to evaluate the changes of the habitat suitability of the WNNR. The results indicate that the forest area dropped by ˜10% due to the earthquake. The forest located in the east of Wolong town, the home of numerous giant pandas, suffered the most. The WUA decreased significantly after the earthquake, and was showing improvement in 2013, although still not fully recovered to the level of priori earthquake. The habitat between 1200 and 1300 m above sea level (m a.s.l.) was particularly vulnerable and was slowly recovering. Further effective management is necessary to restore and protect the giant panda habitat.

Earthquake source imaging by high-resolution array analysis at regional distances: the 2010 M7 Haiti earthquake as seen by the Venezuela National Seismic Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meng, L.; Ampuero, J. P.; Rendon, H.

2010-12-01

Back projection of teleseismic waves based on array processing has become a popular technique for earthquake source imaging,in particular to track the areas of the source that generate the strongest high frequency radiation. The technique has been previously applied to study the rupture process of the Sumatra earthquake and the supershear rupture of the Kunlun earthquakes. Here we attempt to image the Haiti earthquake using the data recorded by Venezuela National Seismic Network (VNSN). The network is composed of 22 broad-band stations with an East-West oriented geometry, and is located approximately 10 degrees away from Haiti in the perpendicular direction to the Enriquillo fault strike. This is the first opportunity to exploit the privileged position of the VNSN to study large earthquake ruptures in the Caribbean region. This is also a great opportunity to explore the back projection scheme of the crustal Pn phase at regional distances,which provides unique complementary insights to the teleseismic source inversions. The challenge in the analysis of the 2010 M7.0 Haiti earthquake is its very compact source region, possibly shorter than 30km, which is below the resolution limit of standard back projection techniques based on beamforming. Results of back projection analysis using the teleseismic USarray data reveal little details of the rupture process. To overcome the classical resolution limit we explored the Multiple Signal Classification method (MUSIC), a high-resolution array processing technique based on the signal-noise orthognality in the eigen space of the data covariance, which achieves both enhanced resolution and better ability to resolve closely spaced sources. We experiment with various synthetic earthquake scenarios to test the resolution. We find that MUSIC provides at least 3 times higher resolution than beamforming. We also study the inherent bias due to the interferences of coherent Green’s functions, which leads to a potential quantification

Program and plans of the U.S. Geological Survey for producing information needed in National Seismic hazards and risk assessment, fiscal years 1980-84

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hays, Walter W.

1979-01-01

In accordance with the provisions of the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977 (Public Law 95-124), the U.S. Geological Survey has developed comprehensive plans for producing information needed to assess seismic hazards and risk on a national scale in fiscal years 1980-84. These plans are based on a review of the needs of Federal Government agencies, State and local government agencies, engineers and scientists engaged in consulting and research, professional organizations and societies, model code groups, and others. The Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act provided an unprecedented opportunity for participation in a national program by representatives of State and local governments, business and industry, the design professions, and the research community. The USGS and the NSF (National Science Foundation) have major roles in the national program. The ultimate goal of the program is to reduce losses from earthquakes. Implementation of USGS research in the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program requires the close coordination of responsibility between Federal, State and local governments. The projected research plan in national seismic hazards and risk for fiscal years 1980-84 will be accomplished by USGS and non-USGS scientists and engineers. The latter group will participate through grants and contracts. The research plan calls for (1) national maps based on existing methods, (2) improved definition of earthquake source zones nationwide, (3) development of improved methodology, (4) regional maps based on the improved methodology, and (5) post-earthquake investigations. Maps and reports designed to meet the needs, priorities, concerns, and recommendations of various user groups will be the products of this research and provide the technical basis for improved implementation.

PAGER--Rapid assessment of an earthquake?s impact

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wald, D.J.; Jaiswal, K.; Marano, K.D.; Bausch, D.; Hearne, M.

2010-01-01

PAGER (Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response) is an automated system that produces content concerning the impact of significant earthquakes around the world, informing emergency responders, government and aid agencies, and the media of the scope of the potential disaster. PAGER rapidly assesses earthquake impacts by comparing the population exposed to each level of shaking intensity with models of economic and fatality losses based on past earthquakes in each country or region of the world. Earthquake alerts--which were formerly sent based only on event magnitude and location, or population exposure to shaking--now will also be generated based on the estimated range of fatalities and economic losses.

Earthquake Education and Public Information Centers: A Collaboration Between the Earthquake Country Alliance and Free-Choice Learning Institutions in California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Degroot, R. M.; Springer, K.; Brooks, C. J.; Schuman, L.; Dalton, D.; Benthien, M. L.

2009-12-01

In 1999 the Southern California Earthquake Center initiated an effort to expand its reach to multiple target audiences through the development of an interpretive trail on the San Andreas fault at Wallace Creek and an earthquake exhibit at Fingerprints Youth Museum in Hemet. These projects and involvement with the San Bernardino County Museum in Redlands beginning in 2007 led to the creation of Earthquake Education and Public Information Centers (EPIcenters) in 2008. The impetus for the development of the network was to broaden participation in The Great Southern California ShakeOut. In 2009 it has grown to be more comprehensive in its scope including its evolution into a statewide network. EPIcenters constitute a variety of free-choice learning institutions, representing museums, science centers, libraries, universities, parks, and other places visited by a variety of audiences including families, seniors, and school groups. They share a commitment to demonstrating and encouraging earthquake preparedness. EPIcenters coordinate Earthquake Country Alliance activities in their county or region, lead presentations or organize events in their communities, or in other ways demonstrate leadership in earthquake education and risk reduction. The San Bernardino County Museum (Southern California) and The Tech Museum of Innovation (Northern California) serve as EPIcenter regional coordinating institutions. They interact with over thirty institutional partners who have implemented a variety of activities from displays and talks to earthquake exhibitions. While many activities are focused on the time leading up to and just after the ShakeOut, most EPIcenter members conduct activities year round. Network members at Kidspace Museum in Pasadena and San Diego Natural History Museum have formed EPIcenter focus groups on early childhood education and safety and security. This presentation highlights the development of the EPIcenter network, synergistic activities resulting from this

Large-Scale Earthquake Countermeasures Act and the Earthquake Prediction Council in Japan

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rikitake, T.

1979-08-07

The Large-Scale Earthquake Countermeasures Act was enacted in Japan in December 1978. This act aims at mitigating earthquake hazards by designating an area to be an area under intensified measures against earthquake disaster, such designation being based on long-term earthquake prediction information, and by issuing an earthquake warnings statement based on imminent prediction information, when possible. In an emergency case as defined by the law, the prime minister will be empowered to take various actions which cannot be taken at ordinary times. For instance, he may ask the Self-Defense Force to come into the earthquake-threatened area before the earthquake occurrence.more » A Prediction Council has been formed in order to evaluate premonitory effects that might be observed over the Tokai area, which was designated an area under intensified measures against earthquake disaster some time in June 1979. An extremely dense observation network has been constructed over the area.« less

Leveraging geodetic data to reduce losses from earthquakes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Murray, Jessica R.; Roeloffs, Evelyn A.; Brooks, Benjamin A.; Langbein, John O.; Leith, William S.; Minson, Sarah E.; Svarc, Jerry L.; Thatcher, Wayne R.

2018-04-23

Seismic hazard assessments that are based on a variety of data and the best available science, coupled with rapid synthesis of real-time information from continuous monitoring networks to guide post-earthquake response, form a solid foundation for effective earthquake loss reduction. With this in mind, the Earthquake Hazards Program (EHP) of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Natural Hazards Mission Area (NHMA) engages in a variety of undertakings, both established and emergent, in order to provide high quality products that enable stakeholders to take action in advance of and in response to earthquakes. Examples include the National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM), development of tools for improved situational awareness such as earthquake early warning (EEW) and operational earthquake forecasting (OEF), research about induced seismicity, and new efforts to advance comprehensive subduction zone science and monitoring. Geodetic observations provide unique and complementary information directly relevant to advancing many aspects of these efforts (fig. 1). EHP scientists have long leveraged geodetic data for a range of influential studies, and they continue to develop innovative observation and analysis methods that push the boundaries of the field of geodesy as applied to natural hazards research. Given the ongoing, rapid improvement in availability, variety, and precision of geodetic measurements, considering ways to fully utilize this observational resource for earthquake loss reduction is timely and essential. This report presents strategies, and the underlying scientific rationale, by which the EHP could achieve the following outcomes: The EHP is an authoritative source for the interpretation of geodetic data and its use for earthquake loss reduction throughout the United States and its territories.The USGS consistently provides timely, high quality geodetic data to stakeholders.Significant earthquakes are better characterized by incorporating geodetic data into USGS

Combining Real-time Seismic and Geodetic Data to Improve Rapid Earthquake Information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murray, M. H.; Neuhauser, D. S.; Gee, L. S.; Dreger, D. S.; Basset, A.; Romanowicz, B.

2002-12-01

The Berkeley Seismological Laboratory operates seismic and geodetic stations in the San Francisco Bay area and northern California for earthquake and deformation monitoring. The seismic systems, part of the Berkeley Digital Seismic Network (BDSN), include strong motion and broadband sensors, and 24-bit dataloggers. The data from 20 GPS stations, part of the Bay Area Regional Deformation (BARD) network of more than 70 stations in northern California, are acquired in real-time. We have developed methods to acquire GPS data at 12 stations that are collocated with the seismic systems using the seismic dataloggers, which have large on-site data buffer and storage capabilities, merge it with the seismic data stream in MiniSeed format, and continuously stream both data types using reliable frame relay and/or radio modem telemetry. Currently, the seismic data are incorporated into the Rapid Earthquake Data Integration (REDI) project to provide notification of earthquake magnitude, location, moment tensor, and strong motion information for hazard mitigation and emergency response activities. The geodetic measurements can provide complementary constraints on earthquake faulting, including the location and extent of the rupture plane, unambiguous resolution of the nodal plane, and distribution of slip on the fault plane, which can be used, for example, to refine strong motion shake maps. We are developing methods to rapidly process the geodetic data to monitor transient deformation, such as coseismic station displacements, and for combining this information with the seismic observations to improve finite-fault characterization of large earthquakes. The GPS data are currently processed at hourly intervals with 2-cm precision in horizontal position, and we are beginning a pilot project in the Bay Area in collaboration with the California Spatial Reference Center to do epoch-by-epoch processing with greater precision.

The Canterbury Tales: Lessons from the Canterbury Earthquake Sequence to Inform Better Public Communication Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McBride, S.; Tilley, E. N.; Johnston, D. M.; Becker, J.; Orchiston, C.

2015-12-01

This research evaluates the public education earthquake information prior to the Canterbury Earthquake sequence (2010-present), and examines communication learnings to create recommendations for improvement in implementation for these types of campaigns in future. The research comes from a practitioner perspective of someone who worked on these campaigns in Canterbury prior to the Earthquake Sequence and who also was the Public Information Manager Second in Command during the earthquake response in February 2011. Documents, specifically those addressing seismic risk, that were created prior to the earthquake sequence, were analyzed, using a "best practice matrix" created by the researcher, for how closely these aligned to best practice academic research. Readability tests and word counts are also employed to assist with triangulation of the data as was practitioner involvement. This research also outlines the lessons learned by practitioners and explores their experiences in regards to creating these materials and how they perceive these now, given all that has happened since the inception of the booklets. The findings from the research showed these documents lacked many of the attributes of best practice. The overly long, jargon filled text had little positive outcome expectancy messages. This probably would have failed to persuade anyone that earthquakes were a real threat in Canterbury. Paradoxically, it is likely these booklets may have created fatalism in publics who read the booklets. While the overall intention was positive, for scientists to explain earthquakes, tsunami, landslides and other risks to encourage the public to prepare for these events, the implementation could be greatly improved. This final component of the research highlights points of improvement for implementation for more successful campaigns in future. The importance of preparedness and science information campaigns can be not only in preparing the population but also into development of

Earthquake catalog for estimation of maximum earthquake magnitude, Central and Eastern United States: Part B, historical earthquakes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wheeler, Russell L.

2014-01-01

Computation of probabilistic earthquake hazard requires an estimate of Mmax: the moment magnitude of the largest earthquake that is thought to be possible within a specified geographic region. The region specified in this report is the Central and Eastern United States and adjacent Canada. Parts A and B of this report describe the construction of a global catalog of moderate to large earthquakes that occurred worldwide in tectonic analogs of the Central and Eastern United States. Examination of histograms of the magnitudes of these earthquakes allows estimation of Central and Eastern United States Mmax. The catalog and Mmax estimates derived from it are used in the 2014 edition of the U.S. Geological Survey national seismic-hazard maps. Part A deals with prehistoric earthquakes, and this part deals with historical events.

California Fault Parameters for the National Seismic Hazard Maps and Working Group on California Earthquake Probabilities 2007

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wills, Chris J.; Weldon, Ray J.; Bryant, W.A.

2008-01-01

This report describes development of fault parameters for the 2007 update of the National Seismic Hazard Maps and the Working Group on California Earthquake Probabilities (WGCEP, 2007). These reference parameters are contained within a database intended to be a source of values for use by scientists interested in producing either seismic hazard or deformation models to better understand the current seismic hazards in California. These parameters include descriptions of the geometry and rates of movements of faults throughout the state. These values are intended to provide a starting point for development of more sophisticated deformation models which include known rates of movement on faults as well as geodetic measurements of crustal movement and the rates of movements of the tectonic plates. The values will be used in developing the next generation of the time-independent National Seismic Hazard Maps, and the time-dependant seismic hazard calculations being developed for the WGCEP. Due to the multiple uses of this information, development of these parameters has been coordinated between USGS, CGS and SCEC. SCEC provided the database development and editing tools, in consultation with USGS, Golden. This database has been implemented in Oracle and supports electronic access (e.g., for on-the-fly access). A GUI-based application has also been developed to aid in populating the database. Both the continually updated 'living' version of this database, as well as any locked-down official releases (e.g., used in a published model for calculating earthquake probabilities or seismic shaking hazards) are part of the USGS Quaternary Fault and Fold Database http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/qfaults/ . CGS has been primarily responsible for updating and editing of the fault parameters, with extensive input from USGS and SCEC scientists.

77 FR 19224 - Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-30

... Earthquake Hazards Reduction Meeting AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of Commerce. ACTION: Notice of open meeting. SUMMARY: The Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction... should be sent to National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Director, National Institute of Standards...

77 FR 27439 - Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-10

... Earthquake Hazards Reduction Meeting AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of Commerce. ACTION: Notice of open meeting. SUMMARY: The Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction... should be sent to National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Director, National Institute of Standards...

75 FR 75457 - Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-12-03

... Earthquake Hazards Reduction Meeting AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of Commerce. ACTION: Notice of open meeting. SUMMARY: The Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction... meeting should be sent to National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Director, National Institute of...

76 FR 64325 - Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-18

... Earthquake Hazards Reduction Meeting AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of Commerce. ACTION: Notice of open meeting. SUMMARY: The Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction... relationship of Presidential Policy Directive/PPD-8: National Preparedness to National Earthquake Hazards...

77 FR 18792 - Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-28

... Earthquake Hazards Reduction Meeting AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of Commerce. ACTION: Notice of open meeting. SUMMARY: The Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction... should be sent to National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Director, National Institute of Standards...

75 FR 18787 - Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-04-13

... Earthquake Hazards Reduction Meeting AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of Commerce. ACTION: Notice of open meeting. SUMMARY: The Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction... sent to National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Director, National Institute of Standards and...

Earthquake catalog for estimation of maximum earthquake magnitude, Central and Eastern United States: Part A, Prehistoric earthquakes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wheeler, Russell L.

2014-01-01

Computation of probabilistic earthquake hazard requires an estimate of Mmax, the maximum earthquake magnitude thought to be possible within a specified geographic region. This report is Part A of an Open-File Report that describes the construction of a global catalog of moderate to large earthquakes, from which one can estimate Mmax for most of the Central and Eastern United States and adjacent Canada. The catalog and Mmax estimates derived from it were used in the 2014 edition of the U.S. Geological Survey national seismic-hazard maps. This Part A discusses prehistoric earthquakes that occurred in eastern North America, northwestern Europe, and Australia, whereas a separate Part B deals with historical events.

The HayWired Earthquake Scenario—Earthquake Hazards

USGS Publications Warehouse

Detweiler, Shane T.; Wein, Anne M.

2017-04-24

The HayWired scenario is a hypothetical earthquake sequence that is being used to better understand hazards for the San Francisco Bay region during and after an earthquake of magnitude 7 on the Hayward Fault. The 2014 Working Group on California Earthquake Probabilities calculated that there is a 33-percent likelihood of a large (magnitude 6.7 or greater) earthquake occurring on the Hayward Fault within three decades. A large Hayward Fault earthquake will produce strong ground shaking, permanent displacement of the Earth’s surface, landslides, liquefaction (soils becoming liquid-like during shaking), and subsequent fault slip, known as afterslip, and earthquakes, known as aftershocks. The most recent large earthquake on the Hayward Fault occurred on October 21, 1868, and it ruptured the southern part of the fault. The 1868 magnitude-6.8 earthquake occurred when the San Francisco Bay region had far fewer people, buildings, and infrastructure (roads, communication lines, and utilities) than it does today, yet the strong ground shaking from the earthquake still caused significant building damage and loss of life. The next large Hayward Fault earthquake is anticipated to affect thousands of structures and disrupt the lives of millions of people. Earthquake risk in the San Francisco Bay region has been greatly reduced as a result of previous concerted efforts; for example, tens of billions of dollars of investment in strengthening infrastructure was motivated in large part by the 1989 magnitude 6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake. To build on efforts to reduce earthquake risk in the San Francisco Bay region, the HayWired earthquake scenario comprehensively examines the earthquake hazards to help provide the crucial scientific information that the San Francisco Bay region can use to prepare for the next large earthquake, The HayWired Earthquake Scenario—Earthquake Hazards volume describes the strong ground shaking modeled in the scenario and the hazardous movements of

A comparative study on the Earthquake Information Management Systems (EIMS) in India, Afghanistan and Iran.

PubMed

Ajami, Sima

2012-01-01

Damages and loss of life sustained during an earthquake results from falling structures and flying glass and objects. To address these and other problems, new information technology and systems as a means can improve crisis management and crisis response. The most important factor for managing the crisis depends on our readiness before disasters by useful data. This study aimed to determine the Earthquake Information Management System (EIMS) in India, Afghanistan and Iran, and describe how we can reduce destruction by EIMS in crisis management. This study was an analytical comparison in which data were collected by questionnaire, observation and checklist. The population was EIMS in selected countries. Sources of information were staff in related organizations, scientific documentations and Internet. For data analysis, Criteria Rating Technique, Delphi Technique and descriptive methods were used. Findings showed that EIMS in India (Disaster Information Management System), Afghanistan (Management Information for Natural Disasters) and Iran are decentralized. The Indian state has organized an expert group to inspect issues about disaster decreasing strategy. In Iran, there was no useful and efficient EIMS to evaluate earthquake information. According to outcomes, it is clear that an information system can only influence decisions if it is relevant, reliable and available for the decision-makers in a timely fashion. Therefore, it is necessary to reform and design a model. The model contains responsible organizations and their functions.

Short- and Long-Term Earthquake Forecasts Based on Statistical Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Console, Rodolfo; Taroni, Matteo; Murru, Maura; Falcone, Giuseppe; Marzocchi, Warner

2017-04-01

The epidemic-type aftershock sequences (ETAS) models have been experimentally used to forecast the space-time earthquake occurrence rate during the sequence that followed the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake and for the 2012 Emilia earthquake sequence. These forecasts represented the two first pioneering attempts to check the feasibility of providing operational earthquake forecasting (OEF) in Italy. After the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake the Italian Department of Civil Protection nominated an International Commission on Earthquake Forecasting (ICEF) for the development of the first official OEF in Italy that was implemented for testing purposes by the newly established "Centro di Pericolosità Sismica" (CPS, the seismic Hazard Center) at the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV). According to the ICEF guidelines, the system is open, transparent, reproducible and testable. The scientific information delivered by OEF-Italy is shaped in different formats according to the interested stakeholders, such as scientists, national and regional authorities, and the general public. The communication to people is certainly the most challenging issue, and careful pilot tests are necessary to check the effectiveness of the communication strategy, before opening the information to the public. With regard to long-term time-dependent earthquake forecast, the application of a newly developed simulation algorithm to Calabria region provided typical features in time, space and magnitude behaviour of the seismicity, which can be compared with those of the real observations. These features include long-term pseudo-periodicity and clustering of strong earthquakes, and a realistic earthquake magnitude distribution departing from the Gutenberg-Richter distribution in the moderate and higher magnitude range.

Response of Water Levels in Devils Hole, Death Valley National Park, Nevada, to Atmospheric Loading, Earth Tides, and Earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cutillo, P. A.; Ge, S.

2004-12-01

Devils Hole, home to the endangered Devils Hole pupfish (Cyprinodon diabolis) in Death Valley National Park, Nevada, is one of about 30 springs and the largest collapse depression in the Ash Meadows area. The small pool leads to an extensive subterranean cavern within the regional Paleozoic carbonate-rock aquifer. Previous work has established that the pool level fluctuates in response to changes in barometric pressure, Earth tides and earthquakes. Analyses of these fluctuations indicate that the formation is a sensitive indicator of crustal strain, and provide important information regarding the material properties of the surrounding aquifer. Over ten years of hourly water-level measurements were analyzed for the effects of atmospheric loading and Earth tides. The short-term water-level fluctuations caused by these effects were found to be on the order of millimeters to centimeters, indicating relatively low matrix compressibility. Accordingly, the Devils Hole water-level record shows strong responses to the June 28, 1992 Landers/Little Skull Mountain earthquake sequence and to the October 16, 1999 Hector Mine earthquake. A dislocation model was used to calculate volumetric strain for each earthquake. The sensitivity of Devils Hole to strain induced by the solid Earth tide was used to constrain the modeling. Water-level decreases observed following the 1992 and 1999 earthquakes were found to be consistent with areas of crustal expansion predicted by the dislocation model. The magnitude of the water-level changes was also found to be proportional to the predicted coseismic volumetric strain. Post-seismic pore-pressure diffusion, governed by the hydraulic diffusivity of the aquifer, was simulated with a numerical model using the coseismic change in pore pressure as an initial condition. Results of the numerical model indicate that factors such as fault-plane geometry and aquifer heterogeneity may play an important role in controlling pore pressure diffusion in the

A Window of Opportunity for the Transformation of National Mental Health Policy in Turkey Following Two Major Earthquakes

PubMed Central

Munir, Kerim; Ergene, Tuncay; Tunaligil, Verda; Erol, Nese

2011-01-01

Striking at the nation’s highly populated industrial heartlands, two massive earthquakes in 1999 killed over 25,000 people in Turkey. The economic cost and the humanitarian magnitude of the disaster were unprecedented in the country’s history. The crisis also underscored a major flaw in the organization of mental health services in the provinces that were left out of the 1961 reforms that aimed to make basic health services available nationwide. In describing the chronology of the earthquakes and the ensuing national and international response, this article explains how the public and governmental experience of the earthquakes has created a window of opportunity, and perhaps the political will, for significant reform. There is an urgent need to integrate mental health and general health services, and to strengthen mental health services in the country’s 81 disparate provinces. As Turkey continues her rapid transformation in terms of greater urbanization, higher levels of public education, and economic and constitutional reforms associated with its projected entry into the European Union, there have also been growing demands for better, and more equitably distributed, health care. A legacy of the earthquakes is that they exposed the need for Turkey to create a coherent, clearly articulated national mental health policy. PMID:15371066

13 CFR 120.174 - Earthquake hazards.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Earthquake hazards. 120.174... Applying to All Business Loans Requirements Imposed Under Other Laws and Orders § 120.174 Earthquake..., the construction must conform with the “National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (“NEHRP...

13 CFR 120.174 - Earthquake hazards.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Earthquake hazards. 120.174... Applying to All Business Loans Requirements Imposed Under Other Laws and Orders § 120.174 Earthquake..., the construction must conform with the “National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (“NEHRP...

13 CFR 120.174 - Earthquake hazards.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Earthquake hazards. 120.174... Applying to All Business Loans Requirements Imposed Under Other Laws and Orders § 120.174 Earthquake..., the construction must conform with the “National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (“NEHRP...

13 CFR 120.174 - Earthquake hazards.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Earthquake hazards. 120.174... Applying to All Business Loans Requirements Imposed Under Other Laws and Orders § 120.174 Earthquake..., the construction must conform with the “National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (“NEHRP...

Monitoring the Earthquake source process in North America

USGS Publications Warehouse

Herrmann, Robert B.; Benz, H.; Ammon, C.J.

2011-01-01

With the implementation of the USGS National Earthquake Information Center Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response system (PAGER), rapid determination of earthquake moment magnitude is essential, especially for earthquakes that are felt within the contiguous United States. We report an implementation of moment tensor processing for application to broad, seismically active areas of North America. This effort focuses on the selection of regional crustal velocity models, codification of data quality tests, and the development of procedures for rapid computation of the seismic moment tensor. We systematically apply these techniques to earthquakes with reported magnitude greater than 3.5 in continental North America that are not associated with a tectonic plate boundary. Using the 0.02-0.10 Hz passband, we can usually determine, with few exceptions, moment tensor solutions for earthquakes with M w as small as 3.7. The threshold is significantly influenced by the density of stations, the location of the earthquake relative to the seismic stations and, of course, the signal-to-noise ratio. With the existing permanent broadband stations in North America operated for rapid earthquake response, the seismic moment tensor of most earthquakes that are M w 4 or larger can be routinely computed. As expected the nonuniform spatial pattern of these solutions reflects the seismicity pattern. However, the orientation of the direction of maximum compressive stress and the predominant style of faulting is spatially coherent across large regions of the continent.

Volunteered Geographic Information for Disaster Management with Application to Earthquake Disaster Databank & Sharing Platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, H.; Zhang, W. C.; Deng, C.; Nie, N.; Yi, L.

2017-02-01

All phases of disaster management require up-to-date and accurate information. Different in-situ and remote sensor systems help to monitor dynamic properties such as air quality, water level or inundated areas. The rapid emergence of web-based services has facilitated the collection, dissemination, and cartographic representation of spatial information from the public, giving rise to the idea of using Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) to aid disaster management. In this study, with a brief review on the concept and the development of disaster management, opportunities and challenges for applying VGI in disaster management were explored. The challenges, including Data availability, Data quality, Data management and Legal issues of using VGI for disaster management, were discussed in detail with particular emphasis on the actual needs of disaster management practice in China. Three different approaches to assure VGI data quality, namely the classification and authority design of volunteers, a government-led VGI data acquisition framework for disaster management and a quality assessment system for VGI, respectively, were presented and discussed. As a case study, a prototype of VGI oriented earthquake disaster databank & sharing platform, an open WebGIS system for volunteers and other interested individuals collaboratively create and manage the earthquake disaster related information, was proposed, to provide references for improving the level of earthquake emergency response and disaster mitigation in China.

Comparison of two large earthquakes: the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake and the 2011 East Japan Earthquake.

PubMed

Otani, Yuki; Ando, Takayuki; Atobe, Kaori; Haiden, Akina; Kao, Sheng-Yuan; Saito, Kohei; Shimanuki, Marie; Yoshimoto, Norifumi; Fukunaga, Koichi

2012-01-01

Between August 15th and 19th, 2011, eight 5th-year medical students from the Keio University School of Medicine had the opportunity to visit the Peking University School of Medicine and hold a discussion session titled "What is the most effective way to educate people for survival in an acute disaster situation (before the mental health care stage)?" During the session, we discussed the following six points: basic information regarding the Sichuan Earthquake and the East Japan Earthquake, differences in preparedness for earthquakes, government actions, acceptance of medical rescue teams, earthquake-induced secondary effects, and media restrictions. Although comparison of the two earthquakes was not simple, we concluded that three major points should be emphasized to facilitate the most effective course of disaster planning and action. First, all relevant agencies should formulate emergency plans and should supply information regarding the emergency to the general public and health professionals on a normal basis. Second, each citizen should be educated and trained in how to minimize the risks from earthquake-induced secondary effects. Finally, the central government should establish a single headquarters responsible for command, control, and coordination during a natural disaster emergency and should centralize all powers in this single authority. We hope this discussion may be of some use in future natural disasters in China, Japan, and worldwide.

Earthquake impact scale

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wald, D.J.; Jaiswal, K.S.; Marano, K.D.; Bausch, D.

2011-01-01

With the advent of the USGS prompt assessment of global earthquakes for response (PAGER) system, which rapidly assesses earthquake impacts, U.S. and international earthquake responders are reconsidering their automatic alert and activation levels and response procedures. To help facilitate rapid and appropriate earthquake response, an Earthquake Impact Scale (EIS) is proposed on the basis of two complementary criteria. On the basis of the estimated cost of damage, one is most suitable for domestic events; the other, on the basis of estimated ranges of fatalities, is generally more appropriate for global events, particularly in developing countries. Simple thresholds, derived from the systematic analysis of past earthquake impact and associated response levels, are quite effective in communicating predicted impact and response needed after an event through alerts of green (little or no impact), yellow (regional impact and response), orange (national-scale impact and response), and red (international response). Corresponding fatality thresholds for yellow, orange, and red alert levels are 1, 100, and 1,000, respectively. For damage impact, yellow, orange, and red thresholds are triggered by estimated losses reaching $1M, $100M, and $1B, respectively. The rationale for a dual approach to earthquake alerting stems from the recognition that relatively high fatalities, injuries, and homelessness predominate in countries in which local building practices typically lend themselves to high collapse and casualty rates, and these impacts lend to prioritization for international response. In contrast, financial and overall societal impacts often trigger the level of response in regions or countries in which prevalent earthquake resistant construction practices greatly reduce building collapse and resulting fatalities. Any newly devised alert, whether economic- or casualty-based, should be intuitive and consistent with established lexicons and procedures. Useful alerts should

A comparative study on the Earthquake Information Management Systems (EIMS) in India, Afghanistan and Iran

PubMed Central

Ajami, Sima

2012-01-01

Context: Damages and loss of life sustained during an earthquake results from falling structures and flying glass and objects. To address these and other problems, new information technology and systems as a means can improve crisis management and crisis response. The most important factor for managing the crisis depends on our readiness before disasters by useful data. Aims: This study aimed to determine the Earthquake Information Management System (EIMS) in India, Afghanistan and Iran, and describe how we can reduce destruction by EIMS in crisis management. Materials and Methods: This study was an analytical comparison in which data were collected by questionnaire, observation and checklist. The population was EIMS in selected countries. Sources of information were staff in related organizations, scientific documentations and Internet. For data analysis, Criteria Rating Technique, Delphi Technique and descriptive methods were used. Results: Findings showed that EIMS in India (Disaster Information Management System), Afghanistan (Management Information for Natural Disasters) and Iran are decentralized. The Indian state has organized an expert group to inspect issues about disaster decreasing strategy. In Iran, there was no useful and efficient EIMS to evaluate earthquake information. Conclusions: According to outcomes, it is clear that an information system can only influence decisions if it is relevant, reliable and available for the decision-makers in a timely fashion. Therefore, it is necessary to reform and design a model. The model contains responsible organizations and their functions. PMID:23555130

Reproductive and Birth Outcomes in Haiti Before and After the 2010 Earthquake.

PubMed

Harville, Emily W; Do, Mai

2016-02-01

We aimed to examine the relationship between exposure to the 2010 Haiti earthquake and pregnancy wantedness, interpregnancy interval, and birth weight. From the nationally representative Haiti 2012 Demographic and Health Survey, information on "size of child at birth" (too small or not) was available for 7280 singleton births in the previous 5 years, whereas information on birth weight was available for 1607 births. Pregnancy wantedness, short (<1 year) interpregnancy interval, and maternal-reported birth weight were compared before and after the earthquake and by level of damage. Multiple logistic regression and linear regression analyses were conducted. Post-earthquake births were less likely to be wanted and more likely to be born after a short interpregnancy interval. Earthquake exposure was associated with increased likelihood of a child being born too small: timing of birth (after earthquake vs. before earthquake, adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 1.27, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.12-1.45), region (hardest-hit vs. rest of country; aOR: 1.43, 95% CI: 1.14- 1.80), and house damage (aOR: 1.27 95% CI: 1.02-1.58). Mean birth weight was 150 to 300 g lower in those exposed to the earthquake. Experience with the earthquake was associated with worse reproductive and birth outcomes, which underscores the need to provide reproductive health services as part of relief efforts.

76 FR 72905 - Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-11-28

... Earthquake Hazards Reduction Meeting AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of Commerce. ACTION: Notice of open meeting. SUMMARY: The Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction.... ADDRESSES: Questions regarding the meeting should be sent to National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program...

76 FR 8712 - Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-02-15

... Earthquake Hazards Reduction Meeting AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of Commerce. ACTION: Notice of open meeting. SUMMARY: The Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction... Committee's 2011 Annual Report of the Effectiveness of the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program...

An Efficient Rapid Warning System For Earthquakes In The European-mediterranean Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bossu, R.; Mazet-Roux, G.; di Giovambattista, R.; Tome, M.

Every year a few damaging earthquakes occur in the European-Mediterranean region. It is therefore indispensable to operate a real-time warning system in order to pro- vide rapidly reliable estimates of the location, depth and magnitude of these seismic events. In order to provide this information in a timely manner both to the scientific community and to the European and national authorities dealing with natural hazards and relief organisation, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) has federated a network of seismic networks exchanging their data in quasi real-time. Today, thanks to the Internet, the EMSC receives real-time information about earth- quakes from about thirty seismological institutes. As soon as data reach the EMSC, they are displayed on the EMSC Web pages (www.emsc-csem.org). A seismic alert is generated for any potentially damaging earthquake in the European-Mediterranean re- gion, potentially damaging earthquakes being defined as seismic events of magnitude 5 or more. The warning system automatically issues a message to the duty seismolo- gist mobile phone and pager. The seismologist log in to the EMSC computers using a laptop PC and relocates the earthquake by processing together all information pro- vided by the networks. The new location and magnitude are then send, by fax, telex, and email, within one hour following the earthquake occurrence, to national and inter- national organisations whose activities are related to seismic risks, and to the EMSC members. The EMSC rapid warning system has been fully operational for more than 4 years. Its distributed architecture has proved to be an efficient and reliable way for the monitoring of potentially damaging earthquakes. Furthermore, if a major problem disrupts the operational system more than 30 minutes, the duty is taken, over either by the Instituto Geografico National in Spain or by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica in Italy. The EMSC operational centre, located at the

78 FR 8109 - Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-02-05

... Earthquake Hazards Reduction Meeting AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of Commerce. ACTION: Notice of open meeting. SUMMARY: The Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction... meeting on the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) web site at http://nehrp.gov...

77 FR 75610 - Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-21

... Earthquake Hazards Reduction Meeting AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of Commerce. ACTION: Notice of open meeting. SUMMARY: The Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction... meeting on the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) Web site at http://nehrp.gov...

A global earthquake discrimination scheme to optimize ground-motion prediction equation selection

USGS Publications Warehouse

Garcia, Daniel; Wald, David J.; Hearne, Michael

2012-01-01

We present a new automatic earthquake discrimination procedure to determine in near-real time the tectonic regime and seismotectonic domain of an earthquake, its most likely source type, and the corresponding ground-motion prediction equation (GMPE) class to be used in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Global ShakeMap system. This method makes use of the Flinn–Engdahl regionalization scheme, seismotectonic information (plate boundaries, global geology, seismicity catalogs, and regional and local studies), and the source parameters available from the USGS National Earthquake Information Center in the minutes following an earthquake to give the best estimation of the setting and mechanism of the event. Depending on the tectonic setting, additional criteria based on hypocentral depth, style of faulting, and regional seismicity may be applied. For subduction zones, these criteria include the use of focal mechanism information and detailed interface models to discriminate among outer-rise, upper-plate, interface, and intraslab seismicity. The scheme is validated against a large database of recent historical earthquakes. Though developed to assess GMPE selection in Global ShakeMap operations, we anticipate a variety of uses for this strategy, from real-time processing systems to any analysis involving tectonic classification of sources from seismic catalogs.

The Global Earthquake Model - Past, Present, Future

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smolka, Anselm; Schneider, John; Stein, Ross

2014-05-01

Source Models • Ground Motion (Attenuation) Models • Physical Exposure Models • Physical Vulnerability Models • Composite Index Models (social vulnerability, resilience, indirect loss) • Repository of national hazard models • Uniform global hazard model Armed with these tools and databases, stakeholders worldwide will then be able to calculate, visualise and investigate earthquake risk, capture new data and to share their findings for joint learning. Earthquake hazard information will be able to be combined with data on exposure (buildings, population) and data on their vulnerability, for risk assessment around the globe. Furthermore, for a truly integrated view of seismic risk, users will be able to add social vulnerability and resilience indices and estimate the costs and benefits of different risk management measures. Having finished its first five-year Work Program at the end of 2013, GEM has entered into its second five-year Work Program 2014-2018. Beyond maintaining and enhancing the products developed in Work Program 1, the second phase will have a stronger focus on regional hazard and risk activities, and on seeing GEM products used for risk assessment and risk management practice at regional, national and local scales. Furthermore GEM intends to partner with similar initiatives underway for other natural perils, which together are needed to meet the need for advanced risk assessment methods, tools and data to underpin global disaster risk reduction efforts under the Hyogo Framework for Action #2 to be launched in Sendai/Japan in spring 2015

Assessment of earthquake effects - contribution from online communication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

D'Amico, Sebastiano; Agius, Matthew; Galea, Pauline

2014-05-01

The rapid increase of social media and online newspapers in the last years have given the opportunity to make a national investigation on macroseismic effects on the Maltese Islands based on felt earthquake reports. A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck close to Malta on Sunday 24th April 2011 at 13:02 GMT. The earthquake was preceded and followed by a series of smaller magnitude quakes throughout the day, most of which were felt by the locals on the island. The continuous news media coverage during the day and the extensive sharing of the news item on social media resulted in a strong public response to fill in the 'Did you feel it?' online form on the website of the Seismic Monitoring and Research Unit (SMRU) at the University of Malta (http://seismic.research.um.edu.mt/). The results yield interesting information about the demographics of the island, and the different felt experiences possibly relating to geological settings and diverse structural and age-classified buildings. Based on this case study, the SMRU is in the process of developing a mobile phone application dedicated to share earthquake information to the local community. The application will automatically prompt users to fill in a simplified 'Did you feel it?' report to potentially felt earthquakes. Automatic location using Global Positioning Systems can be incorporated to provide a 'real time' intensity map that can be used by the Civil Protection Department.

The CATDAT damaging earthquakes database

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daniell, J. E.; Khazai, B.; Wenzel, F.; Vervaeck, A.

2011-08-01

The global CATDAT damaging earthquakes and secondary effects (tsunami, fire, landslides, liquefaction and fault rupture) database was developed to validate, remove discrepancies, and expand greatly upon existing global databases; and to better understand the trends in vulnerability, exposure, and possible future impacts of such historic earthquakes. Lack of consistency and errors in other earthquake loss databases frequently cited and used in analyses was a major shortcoming in the view of the authors which needed to be improved upon. Over 17 000 sources of information have been utilised, primarily in the last few years, to present data from over 12 200 damaging earthquakes historically, with over 7000 earthquakes since 1900 examined and validated before insertion into the database. Each validated earthquake includes seismological information, building damage, ranges of social losses to account for varying sources (deaths, injuries, homeless, and affected), and economic losses (direct, indirect, aid, and insured). Globally, a slightly increasing trend in economic damage due to earthquakes is not consistent with the greatly increasing exposure. The 1923 Great Kanto (214 billion USD damage; 2011 HNDECI-adjusted dollars) compared to the 2011 Tohoku (>300 billion USD at time of writing), 2008 Sichuan and 1995 Kobe earthquakes show the increasing concern for economic loss in urban areas as the trend should be expected to increase. Many economic and social loss values not reported in existing databases have been collected. Historical GDP (Gross Domestic Product), exchange rate, wage information, population, HDI (Human Development Index), and insurance information have been collected globally to form comparisons. This catalogue is the largest known cross-checked global historic damaging earthquake database and should have far-reaching consequences for earthquake loss estimation, socio-economic analysis, and the global reinsurance field.

National Health Information Center

MedlinePlus

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Earthquakes: Natural Science Museum and Civil Protection of Trento to inform citizens

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lauro, Claudia; Avanzini, Marco

2010-05-01

During 2009 the Natural Science Museum of Trento organized the exhibition "Attraction Earth: Earthquakes and Terrestrial Magnetism" in collaboration with the INGV (Italian National Institute of Geophysic and Volcanology). In this exhibition a particular sector has been devoted to the seismic activity and its monitoring in the Province of Trento. The purpose was to inform local people on the geological features of their territory, the monitoring activity carried out by the Civil Protection and the potential earthquake hazards, also in order to adopt a correct behaviour in case of seismic event. This sector, "The seismometric Trentino network", was organized by the Geological Service of the Trento Civil Protection and it is open till May 2010, both for general public and school students. For the latter, a particular education pack, realized by the Educational Department of the Museum and consisting of a guided tour coupled with the laboratory activity "Waves upside-down: seismology", is proposed. The whole exhibition has been also coupled with a cycle conferences targeted to adults, in which these topics have been explained by researchers and technicians of INGV and of Trento Geological Service. "The seismometric Trentino network" sector presents the daily monitoring activity of the Geological Service, that has been monitoring the seismic activity for the last 30 years, and describes the deep earth processes of the local territory, such as presence of tectonic discontinuities and their activity. It consists of display panels, a seismometer with rotating drums and a multimedia that reports the monitoring activity of the seismometric network, with real time connection to the various monitoring stations. This allows visitors to observe instantly the local seismic events recorded by each station. The seismometric network was established by the institutions of Trento Province after the earthquakes occurred in Friuli Venezia-Giulia and at Riva del Garda (1976). It started

78 FR 64973 - Scientific Earthquake Studies Advisory Committee (SESAC)

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-10-30

... DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Geological Survey [GX14GG009950000] Scientific Earthquake Studies... Public Law 106-503, the Scientific Earthquake Studies Advisory Committee (SESAC) will hold its next... warning and national earthquake hazard mapping. Meetings of the Scientific Earthquake Studies Advisory...

A smartphone application for earthquakes that matter!

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bossu, Rémy; Etivant, Caroline; Roussel, Fréderic; Mazet-Roux, Gilles; Steed, Robert

2014-05-01

Smartphone applications have swiftly become one of the most popular tools for rapid reception of earthquake information for the public, some of them having been downloaded more than 1 million times! The advantages are obvious: wherever someone's own location is, they can be automatically informed when an earthquake has struck. Just by setting a magnitude threshold and an area of interest, there is no longer the need to browse the internet as the information reaches you automatically and instantaneously! One question remains: are the provided earthquake notifications always relevant for the public? What are the earthquakes that really matters to laypeople? One clue may be derived from some newspaper reports that show that a while after damaging earthquakes many eyewitnesses scrap the application they installed just after the mainshock. Why? Because either the magnitude threshold is set too high and many felt earthquakes are missed, or it is set too low and the majority of the notifications are related to unfelt earthquakes thereby only increasing anxiety among the population at each new update. Felt and damaging earthquakes are the ones that matter the most for the public (and authorities). They are the ones of societal importance even when of small magnitude. A smartphone application developed by EMSC (Euro-Med Seismological Centre) with the financial support of the Fondation MAIF aims at providing suitable notifications for earthquakes by collating different information threads covering tsunamigenic, potentially damaging and felt earthquakes. Tsunamigenic earthquakes are considered here to be those ones that are the subject of alert or information messages from the PTWC (Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre). While potentially damaging earthquakes are identified through an automated system called EQIA (Earthquake Qualitative Impact Assessment) developed and operated at EMSC. This rapidly assesses earthquake impact by comparing the population exposed to each expected

Using JavaScript and the FDSN web service to create an interactive earthquake information system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fischer, Kasper D.

2015-04-01

The FDSN web service provides a web interface to access earthquake meta-data (e. g. event or station information) and waveform date over the internet. Requests are send to a server as URLs and the output is either XML or miniSEED. This makes it hard to read by humans but easy to process with different software. Different data centers are already supporting the FDSN web service, e. g. USGS, IRIS, ORFEUS. The FDSN web service is also part of the Seiscomp3 (http://www.seiscomp3.org) software. The Seismological Observatory of the Ruhr-University switched to Seiscomp3 as the standard software for the analysis of mining induced earthquakes at the beginning of 2014. This made it necessary to create a new web-based earthquake information service for the publication of results to the general public. This has be done by processing the output of a FDSN web service query by javascript running in a standard browser. The result is an interactive map presenting the observed events and further information of events and stations on a single web page as a table and on a map. In addition the user can download event information, waveform data and station data in different formats like miniSEED, quakeML or FDSNxml. The developed code and all used libraries are open source and freely available.

Why local people did not present a problem in the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake, Japan though people accused in the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sugimoto, M.

2016-12-01

Risk communication is a big issues among seismologists after the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake all over the world. A lot of people remember 7 researchers as "L'Aquila 7" were accused in Italy. Seismologists said it is impossible to predict an earthquake by science technology today and join more outreach activities. "In a subsequent inquiry of the handling of the disaster, seven members of the Italian National Commission for the Forecast and Prevention of Major Risks were accused of giving "inexact, incomplete and contradictory" information about the danger of the tremors prior to the main quake. On 22 October 2012, six scientists and one ex-government official were convicted of multiple manslaughter for downplaying the likelihood of a major earthquake six days before it took place. They were each sentenced to six years' imprisonment (Wikipedia)". Finally 6 scientists are not guilty. The 2016 Kumamoto earthquake hit Kyushu, Japan in April. They are very similar seismological situations between the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake and the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake. The foreshock was Mj6.5 and Mw6.2 in 14 April 2016. The main shock was Mj7.3 and Mw7.0. Japan Metrological Agency (JMA) misleaded foreshock as mainshock before main shock occured. 41 people died by the main shock in Japan. However local people did not accused scientists in Japan. It has been less big earhquakes around 100 years in Kumamoto. Poeple was not so matured that they treated earthquake information in Kyushu, Japan. How are there differences between Japan and Italy? We learn about outreach activities for sciencits from this case.

Preliminary results on earthquake triggered landslides for the Haiti earthquake (January 2010)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Westen, Cees; Gorum, Tolga

2010-05-01

This study presents the first results on an analysis of the landslides triggered by the Ms 7.0 Haiti earthquake that occurred on January 12, 2010 in the boundary region of the Pacific Plate and the North American plate. The fault is a left lateral strike slip fault with a clear surface expression. According to the USGS earthquake information the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault system has not produced any major earthquake in the last 100 years, and historical earthquakes are known from 1860, 1770, 1761, 1751, 1684, 1673, and 1618, though none of these has been confirmed in the field as associated with this fault. We used high resolution satellite imagery available for the pre and post earthquake situations, which were made freely available for the response and rescue operations. We made an interpretation of all co-seismic landslides in the epicentral area. We conclude that the earthquake mainly triggered landslide in the northern slope of the fault-related valley and in a number of isolated area. The earthquake apparently didn't trigger many visible landslides within the slum areas on the slopes in the southern part of Port-au-Prince and Carrefour. We also used ASTER DEM information to relate the landslide occurrences with DEM derivatives.

The plan to coordinate NEHRP post-earthquake investigations

USGS Publications Warehouse

Holzer, Thomas L.; Borcherdt, Roger D.; Comartin, Craig D.; Hanson, Robert D.; Scawthorn, Charles R.; Tierney, Kathleen; Youd, T. Leslie

2003-01-01

This is the plan to coordinate domestic and foreign post-earthquake investigations supported by the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP). The plan addresses coordination of both the NEHRP agencies—Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), National Science Foundation (NSF), and U. S. Geological Survey (USGS)—and their partners. The plan is a framework for both coordinating what is going to be done and identifying responsibilities for post-earthquake investigations. It does not specify what will be done. Coordination is addressed in various time frames ranging from hours to years after an earthquake. The plan includes measures for (1) gaining rapid and general agreement on high-priority research opportunities, and (2) conducting the data gathering and fi eld studies in a coordinated manner. It deals with identifi cation, collection, processing, documentation, archiving, and dissemination of the results of post-earthquake work in a timely manner and easily accessible format.

National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) | Information Center

Science.gov Websites

National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) Contact Information Website: http://www.nbii.gov/ The National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) is a broad, collaborative program to provide increased access to data and information on the nation's biological resources. The NBII links diverse, high

Can We Predict Earthquakes?

ScienceCinema

Johnson, Paul

2018-01-16

The only thing we know for sure about earthquakes is that one will happen again very soon. Earthquakes pose a vital yet puzzling set of research questions that have confounded scientists for decades, but new ways of looking at seismic information and innovative laboratory experiments are offering tantalizing clues to what triggers earthquakes — and when.

Earthquake Early Warning: A Prospective User's Perspective (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nishenko, S. P.; Savage, W. U.; Johnson, T.

2009-12-01

With more than 25 million people at risk from high hazard faults in California alone, Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) presents a promising public safety and emergency response tool. EEW represents the real-time end of an earthquake information spectrum which also includes near real-time notifications of earthquake location, magnitude, and shaking levels; as well as geographic information system (GIS)-based products for compiling and visually displaying processed earthquake data such as ShakeMap and ShakeCast. Improvements to and increased multi-national implementation of EEW have stimulated interest in how such information products could be used in the future. Lifeline organizations, consisting of utilities and transportation systems, can use both onsite and regional EEW information as part of their risk management and public safety programs. Regional EEW information can provide improved situational awareness to system operators before automatic system protection devices activate, and allow trained personnel to take precautionary measures. On-site EEW is used for earthquake-actuated automatic gas shutoff valves, triggered garage door openers at fire stations, system controls, etc. While there is no public policy framework for preemptive, precautionary electricity or gas service shutdowns by utilities in the United States, gas shut-off devices are being required at the building owner level by some local governments. In the transportation sector, high-speed rail systems have already demonstrated the ‘proof of concept’ for EEW in several countries, and more EEW systems are being installed. Recently the Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) began collaborating with the California Integrated Seismic Network (CISN) and others to assess the potential benefits of EEW technology to mass transit operations and emergency response in the San Francisco Bay region. A key issue in this assessment is that significant earthquakes are likely to occur close to or within the BART

Missing great earthquakes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hough, Susan E.

2013-01-01

The occurrence of three earthquakes with moment magnitude (Mw) greater than 8.8 and six earthquakes larger than Mw 8.5, since 2004, has raised interest in the long-term global rate of great earthquakes. Past studies have focused on the analysis of earthquakes since 1900, which roughly marks the start of the instrumental era in seismology. Before this time, the catalog is less complete and magnitude estimates are more uncertain. Yet substantial information is available for earthquakes before 1900, and the catalog of historical events is being used increasingly to improve hazard assessment. Here I consider the catalog of historical earthquakes and show that approximately half of all Mw ≥ 8.5 earthquakes are likely missing or underestimated in the 19th century. I further present a reconsideration of the felt effects of the 8 February 1843, Lesser Antilles earthquake, including a first thorough assessment of felt reports from the United States, and show it is an example of a known historical earthquake that was significantly larger than initially estimated. The results suggest that incorporation of best available catalogs of historical earthquakes will likely lead to a significant underestimation of seismic hazard and/or the maximum possible magnitude in many regions, including parts of the Caribbean.

Multispectral, hyperspectral, and LiDAR remote sensing and geographic information fusion for improved earthquake response

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kruse, F. A.; Kim, A. M.; Runyon, S. C.; Carlisle, Sarah C.; Clasen, C. C.; Esterline, C. H.; Jalobeanu, A.; Metcalf, J. P.; Basgall, P. L.; Trask, D. M.; Olsen, R. C.

2014-06-01

The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) Remote Sensing Center (RSC) and research partners have completed a remote sensing pilot project in support of California post-earthquake-event emergency response. The project goals were to dovetail emergency management requirements with remote sensing capabilities to develop prototype map products for improved earthquake response. NPS coordinated with emergency management services and first responders to compile information about essential elements of information (EEI) requirements. A wide variety of remote sensing datasets including multispectral imagery (MSI), hyperspectral imagery (HSI), and LiDAR were assembled by NPS for the purpose of building imagery baseline data; and to demonstrate the use of remote sensing to derive ground surface information for use in planning, conducting, and monitoring post-earthquake emergency response. Worldview-2 data were converted to reflectance, orthorectified, and mosaicked for most of Monterey County; CA. Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) data acquired at two spatial resolutions were atmospherically corrected and analyzed in conjunction with the MSI data. LiDAR data at point densities from 1.4 pts/m2 to over 40 points/ m2 were analyzed to determine digital surface models. The multimodal data were then used to develop change detection approaches and products and other supporting information. Analysis results from these data along with other geographic information were used to identify and generate multi-tiered products tied to the level of post-event communications infrastructure (internet access + cell, cell only, no internet/cell). Technology transfer of these capabilities to local and state emergency response organizations gives emergency responders new tools in support of post-disaster operational scenarios.

IMPLEMENTATION OF INFORMATION SHARING DEMONSTRATION AMONG ORGANIZATIONS IN CHARGE OF DISASTER MANAGEMENT IN TOKYO METROPOLITAN NEAR FIELD EARTHQUAKE DISASTER

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hada, Yasunori; Kondo, Shinya; Meguro, Kimiro; Ohara, Miho; Zama, Shinsaku; Endo, Makoto; Kobayashi, Keiji; Suzuki, Takeyasu; Noda, Itsuki; Shimora, Hiroki; Takeuchi, Ikuo; Kobayashi, Satoshi; Arakawa, Junpei; Yoshimoto, Kenichi

For realizing cross-sectional inform ation sharing in the Tokyo metropolitan area, we develop disaster management applications to reduce negative impact due to vital issue in phase of initial response, and cooperation of those applications are demonstrated toward public officials in charge of disaster management. The demonstration of information sharing among disaster related organizations focusing on issues about simultaneous multiple post-earthquake fires and rescue operations after an earthquake directly underneath Tokyo are reported.

Technical-Information Products for a National Volcano Early Warning System

USGS Publications Warehouse

Guffanti, Marianne; Brantley, Steven R.; Cervelli, Peter F.; Nye, Christopher J.; Serafino, George N.; Siebert, Lee; Venezky, Dina Y.; Wald, Lisa

2007-01-01

Introduction Technical outreach - distinct from general-interest and K-12 educational outreach - for volcanic hazards is aimed at providing usable scientific information about potential or ongoing volcanic activity to public officials, businesses, and individuals in support of their response, preparedness, and mitigation efforts. Within the context of a National Volcano Early Warning System (NVEWS) (Ewert et al., 2005), technical outreach is a critical process, transferring the benefits of enhanced monitoring and hazards research to key constituents who have to initiate actions or make policy decisions to lessen the hazardous impact of volcanic activity. This report discusses recommendations of the Technical-Information Products Working Group convened in 2006 as part of the NVEWS planning process. The basic charge to the Working Group was to identify a web-based, volcanological 'product line' for NVEWS to meet the specific hazard-information needs of technical users. Members of the Working Group were: *Marianne Guffanti (Chair), USGS, Reston VA *Steve Brantley, USGS, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory HI *Peter Cervelli, USGS, Alaska Volcano Observatory, Anchorage AK *Chris Nye, Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys and Alaska Volcano Observatory, Fairbanks AK *George Serafino, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Camp Springs MD *Lee Siebert, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC *Dina Venezky, USGS, Volcano Hazards Team, Menlo Park CA *Lisa Wald, USGS, Earthquake Hazards Program, Golden CO

Documentation for the 2008 Update of the United States National Seismic Hazard Maps

USGS Publications Warehouse

Petersen, Mark D.; Frankel, Arthur D.; Harmsen, Stephen C.; Mueller, Charles S.; Haller, Kathleen M.; Wheeler, Russell L.; Wesson, Robert L.; Zeng, Yuehua; Boyd, Oliver S.; Perkins, David M.; Luco, Nicolas; Field, Edward H.; Wills, Chris J.; Rukstales, Kenneth S.

2008-01-01

The 2008 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Seismic Hazard Maps display earthquake ground motions for various probability levels across the United States and are applied in seismic provisions of building codes, insurance rate structures, risk assessments, and other public policy. This update of the maps incorporates new findings on earthquake ground shaking, faults, seismicity, and geodesy. The resulting maps are derived from seismic hazard curves calculated on a grid of sites across the United States that describe the frequency of exceeding a set of ground motions. The USGS National Seismic Hazard Mapping Project developed these maps by incorporating information on potential earthquakes and associated ground shaking obtained from interaction in science and engineering workshops involving hundreds of participants, review by several science organizations and State surveys, and advice from two expert panels. The National Seismic Hazard Maps represent our assessment of the 'best available science' in earthquake hazards estimation for the United States (maps of Alaska and Hawaii as well as further information on hazard across the United States are available on our Web site at http://earthquake.usgs.gov/research/hazmaps/).

Earthquake Forecasting System in Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Falcone, G.; Marzocchi, W.; Murru, M.; Taroni, M.; Faenza, L.

2017-12-01

In Italy, after the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake, a procedure was developed for gathering and disseminating authoritative information about the time dependence of seismic hazard to help communities prepare for a potentially destructive earthquake. The most striking time dependency of the earthquake occurrence process is the time clustering, which is particularly pronounced in time windows of days and weeks. The Operational Earthquake Forecasting (OEF) system that is developed at the Seismic Hazard Center (Centro di Pericolosità Sismica, CPS) of the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) is the authoritative source of seismic hazard information for Italian Civil Protection. The philosophy of the system rests on a few basic concepts: transparency, reproducibility, and testability. In particular, the transparent, reproducible, and testable earthquake forecasting system developed at CPS is based on ensemble modeling and on a rigorous testing phase. Such phase is carried out according to the guidance proposed by the Collaboratory for the Study of Earthquake Predictability (CSEP, international infrastructure aimed at evaluating quantitatively earthquake prediction and forecast models through purely prospective and reproducible experiments). In the OEF system, the two most popular short-term models were used: the Epidemic-Type Aftershock Sequences (ETAS) and the Short-Term Earthquake Probabilities (STEP). Here, we report the results from OEF's 24hour earthquake forecasting during the main phases of the 2016-2017 sequence occurred in Central Apennines (Italy).

An atlas of ShakeMaps for selected global earthquakes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Allen, Trevor I.; Wald, David J.; Hotovec, Alicia J.; Lin, Kuo-Wan; Earle, Paul S.; Marano, Kristin D.

2008-01-01

An atlas of maps of peak ground motions and intensity 'ShakeMaps' has been developed for almost 5,000 recent and historical global earthquakes. These maps are produced using established ShakeMap methodology (Wald and others, 1999c; Wald and others, 2005) and constraints from macroseismic intensity data, instrumental ground motions, regional topographically-based site amplifications, and published earthquake-rupture models. Applying the ShakeMap methodology allows a consistent approach to combine point observations with ground-motion predictions to produce descriptions of peak ground motions and intensity for each event. We also calculate an estimated ground-motion uncertainty grid for each earthquake. The Atlas of ShakeMaps provides a consistent and quantitative description of the distribution and intensity of shaking for recent global earthquakes (1973-2007) as well as selected historic events. As such, the Atlas was developed specifically for calibrating global earthquake loss estimation methodologies to be used in the U.S. Geological Survey Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) Project. PAGER will employ these loss models to rapidly estimate the impact of global earthquakes as part of the USGS National Earthquake Information Center's earthquake-response protocol. The development of the Atlas of ShakeMaps has also led to several key improvements to the Global ShakeMap system. The key upgrades include: addition of uncertainties in the ground motion mapping, introduction of modern ground-motion prediction equations, improved estimates of global seismic-site conditions (VS30), and improved definition of stable continental region polygons. Finally, we have merged all of the ShakeMaps in the Atlas to provide a global perspective of earthquake ground shaking for the past 35 years, allowing comparison with probabilistic hazard maps. The online Atlas and supporting databases can be found at http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/shakemap/atlas.php/.

Preparing for an Earthquake: Information for Schools and Families

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heath, Melissa Allen; Dean, Brenda

2008-01-01

Over the past decade, catastrophic earthquakes have garnered international attention regarding the need for improving immediate and ongoing support services for disrupted communities. Following the December 26, 2004 Indonesian earthquake, the Indian Ocean tsunami was responsible for displacing millions and taking the lives of an estimated 320,000…

Earthquake prediction: the interaction of public policy and science.

PubMed Central

Jones, L M

1996-01-01

Earthquake prediction research has searched for both informational phenomena, those that provide information about earthquake hazards useful to the public, and causal phenomena, causally related to the physical processes governing failure on a fault, to improve our understanding of those processes. Neither informational nor causal phenomena are a subset of the other. I propose a classification of potential earthquake predictors of informational, causal, and predictive phenomena, where predictors are causal phenomena that provide more accurate assessments of the earthquake hazard than can be gotten from assuming a random distribution. Achieving higher, more accurate probabilities than a random distribution requires much more information about the precursor than just that it is causally related to the earthquake. PMID:11607656

The Benefits and Limitations of Crowdsourced Information for Rapid Damage Assessment of Global Earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bossu, R.; Landès, M.; Roussel, F.

2017-12-01

The Internet has fastened the collection of felt reports and macroseismic data after global earthquakes. At the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), where the traditional online questionnaires have been replace by thumbnail-based questionnaires, an average of half of the reports are collected within 10 minutes of an earthquake's occurrence. In regions where EMSC is well identified this goes down to 5 min. The user simply specifies the thumbnail corresponding to observed effects erasing languages barriers and improving collection via small smartphone screens. A previous study has shown that EMSC data is well correlated with "Did You Feel It" (DYFI) data and 3 independent, manually collected datasets. The efficiency and rapidity of felt report collection through thumbnail-based questionnaires does not necessarily mean that they offer a complete picture of the situation for all intensities values, especially the higher ones. There are several potential limitations. Demographics probably play a role but so might eyewitnesses' behaviors: it is probably not their priority to report when their own safety and that of their loved ones is at stake. We propose to test this hypothesis on EMSC felt reports and to extend the study to LastQuake smartphone application uses. LastQuake is a free smartphone app providing very rapid information on felt earthquakes. There are currently 210 000 active users around the world covering almost every country except for a few ones in Sub-Saharan Africa. Along with felt reports we also analyze the characteristics of LastQuake app launches. For both composite datasets created from 108 earthquakes, we analyze the rapidity of eyewitnesses' reaction and how it changes with intensity values and surmise how they reflect different types of behaviors. We will show the intrinsic limitations of crowdsourced information for rapid situation awareness. More importantly, we will show in which cases the lack of crowdsourced information could

An assessment of seismic monitoring in the United States; requirement for an Advanced National Seismic System

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

1999-01-01

This report assesses the status, needs, and associated costs of seismic monitoring in the United States. It sets down the requirement for an effective, national seismic monitoring strategy and an advanced system linking national, regional, and urban monitoring networks. Modernized seismic monitoring can provide alerts of imminent strong earthquake shaking; rapid assessment of distribution and severity of earthquake shaking (for use in emergency response); warnings of a possible tsunami from an offshore earthquake; warnings of volcanic eruptions; information for correctly characterizing earthquake hazards and for improving building codes; and data on response of buildings and structures during earthquakes, for safe, cost-effective design, engineering, and construction practices in earthquake-prone regions.

Earthquake Education in Prime Time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Groot, R.; Abbott, P.; Benthien, M.

2004-12-01

Since 2001, the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) has collaborated on several video production projects that feature important topics related to earthquake science, engineering, and preparedness. These projects have also fostered many fruitful and sustained partnerships with a variety of organizations that have a stake in hazard education and preparedness. The Seismic Sleuths educational video first appeared in the spring season 2001 on Discovery Channel's Assignment Discovery. Seismic Sleuths is based on a highly successful curriculum package developed jointly by the American Geophysical Union and The Department of Homeland Security Federal Emergency Management Agency. The California Earthquake Authority (CEA) and the Institute for Business and Home Safety supported the video project. Summer Productions, a company with a reputation for quality science programming, produced the Seismic Sleuths program in close partnership with scientists, engineers, and preparedness experts. The program has aired on the National Geographic Channel as recently as Fall 2004. Currently, SCEC is collaborating with Pat Abbott, a geology professor at San Diego State University (SDSU) on the video project Written In Stone: Earthquake Country - Los Angeles. Partners on this project include the California Seismic Safety Commission, SDSU, SCEC, CEA, and the Insurance Information Network of California. This video incorporates live-action demonstrations, vivid animations, and a compelling host (Abbott) to tell the story about earthquakes in the Los Angeles region. The Written in Stone team has also developed a comprehensive educator package that includes the video, maps, lesson plans, and other supporting materials. We will present the process that facilitates the creation of visually effective, factually accurate, and entertaining video programs. We acknowledge the need to have a broad understanding of the literature related to communication, media studies, science education, and

New information on earthquake history of the Aksehir-Afyon Graben System, Turkey, since the second half of 18th century

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ozer, N.

2006-12-01

Researches aimed at enriching the number of available documentary sources on earthquakes have an important role in seismology. To this end, this paper documents the history of prominent earthquakes associated with the NW-SE trending Sultandag-Aksehir Fault and Aksehir-Afyon graben system in Western-Central Anatolia since the historical times through 1766. This work also combines the earthquake data for both historical and instrumental periods, previously listed in various catalogues and resources, for the studied area. Documents from the Ottoman archives and libraries as well as the Ottoman and Turkish newspapers were scrutinized, and eight previously unreported earthquakes in the latter half of the nineteenth century and four new earthquakes in the period 1900-1931 were revealed. For the period from 1766 to 1931, the total number of known earthquakes for the area under investigation increased from eighteen to thirty thanks to the document search. Furthermore, the existing information on eleven previously reported earthquakes is updated for the period from 1862 to 1946. Earthquakes from 1946 to 1964 are compiled from the catalogues for data completeness.

Assessing the nation's earthquakes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1990-01-01

The basic purposes of this report are: (1) to make a convincing case for the intrinsic value of regional seismic networks; (2) to describe the seriousness of persistent problems in the current configuration and operation of these networks; (3) to outline recommendations for their modernization and future evolution, in particular, their short-term integration and long-term affiliation with the U.S. National Seismic Network. Important supplementary information is included in two appendices: a survey of regional seismic networks and implementation strategies for revitalization of regional seismic networks.

Report on the Aseismic Slip, Tremor, and Earthquakes Workshop

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gomberg, Joan; Roeloffs, Evelyn; Trehu, Anne; Dragert, Herb; Meertens, Charles

2008-01-01

This report summarizes the discussions and information presented during the workshop on Aseismic Slip, Tremor, and Earthquakes. Workshop goals included improving coordination among those involved in conducting research related to these phenomena, assessing the implications for earthquake hazard assessment, and identifying ways to capitalize on the education and outreach opportunities presented by these phenomena. Research activities of focus included making, disseminating, and analyzing relevant measurements; the relationships among tremor, aseismic or 'slow-slip', and earthquakes; and discovering the underlying causative physical processes. More than 52 participants contributed to the workshop, held February 25-28, 2008 in Sidney, British Columbia. The workshop was sponsored by the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Science Foundation?s Earthscope Program and UNAVCO Consortium, and the Geological Survey of Canada. This report has five parts. In the first part, we integrate the information exchanged at the workshop as it relates to advancing our understanding of earthquake generation and hazard. In the second part, we summarize the ideas and concerns discussed in workshop working groups on Opportunities for Education and Outreach, Data and Instrumentation, User and Public Needs, and Research Coordination. The third part presents summaries of the oral presentations. The oral presentations are grouped as they were at the workshop in the categories of phenomenology, underlying physical processes, and implications for earthquake hazards. The fourth part contains the meeting program and the fifth part lists the workshop participants. References noted in parentheses refer to the authors of presentations made at the workshop, and published references are noted in square brackets and listed in the Reference section. Appendix A contains abstracts of all participant presentations and posters, which also have been posted online, along with presentations and author contact

Probabilistic Tsunami Hazard Assessment along Nankai Trough (1) An assessment based on the information of the forthcoming earthquake that Earthquake Research Committee(2013) evaluated

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hirata, K.; Fujiwara, H.; Nakamura, H.; Osada, M.; Morikawa, N.; Kawai, S.; Ohsumi, T.; Aoi, S.; Yamamoto, N.; Matsuyama, H.; Toyama, N.; Kito, T.; Murashima, Y.; Murata, Y.; Inoue, T.; Saito, R.; Takayama, J.; Akiyama, S.; Korenaga, M.; Abe, Y.; Hashimoto, N.

2015-12-01

The Earthquake Research Committee(ERC)/HERP, Government of Japan (2013) revised their long-term evaluation of the forthcoming large earthquake along the Nankai Trough; the next earthquake is estimated M8 to 9 class, and the probability (P30) that the next earthquake will occur within the next 30 years (from Jan. 1, 2013) is 60% to 70%. In this study, we assess tsunami hazards (maximum coastal tsunami heights) in the near future, in terms of a probabilistic approach, from the next earthquake along Nankai Trough, on the basis of ERC(2013)'s report. The probabilistic tsunami hazard assessment that we applied is as follows; (1) Characterized earthquake fault models (CEFMs) are constructed on each of the 15 hypothetical source areas (HSA) that ERC(2013) showed. The characterization rule follows Toyama et al.(2015, JpGU). As results, we obtained total of 1441 CEFMs. (2) We calculate tsunamis due to CEFMs by solving nonlinear, finite-amplitude, long-wave equations with advection and bottom friction terms by finite-difference method. Run-up computation on land is included. (3) A time predictable model predicts the recurrent interval of the present seismic cycle is T=88.2 years (ERC,2013). We fix P30 = 67% by applying the renewal process based on BPT distribution with T and alpha=0.24 as its aperiodicity. (4) We divide the probability P30 into P30(i) for i-th subgroup consisting of the earthquakes occurring in each of 15 HSA by following a probability re-distribution concept (ERC,2014). Then each earthquake (CEFM) in i-th subgroup is assigned a probability P30(i)/N where N is the number of CEFMs in each sub-group. Note that such re-distribution concept of the probability is nothing but tentative because the present seismology cannot give deep knowledge enough to do it. Epistemic logic-tree approach may be required in future. (5) We synthesize a number of tsunami hazard curves at every evaluation points on coasts by integrating the information about 30 years occurrence

Putting down roots in earthquake country-Your handbook for earthquakes in the Central United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Contributors: Dart, Richard; McCarthy, Jill; McCallister, Natasha; Williams, Robert A.

2011-01-01

This handbook provides information to residents of the Central United States about the threat of earthquakes in that area, particularly along the New Madrid seismic zone, and explains how to prepare for, survive, and recover from such events. It explains the need for concern about earthquakes for those residents and describes what one can expect during and after an earthquake. Much is known about the threat of earthquakes in the Central United States, including where they are likely to occur and what can be done to reduce losses from future earthquakes, but not enough has been done to prepare for future earthquakes. The handbook describes such preparations that can be taken by individual residents before an earthquake to be safe and protect property.

Scaling Relations of Earthquakes on Inland Active Mega-Fault Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murotani, S.; Matsushima, S.; Azuma, T.; Irikura, K.; Kitagawa, S.

2010-12-01

Since 2005, The Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion (HERP) has been publishing 'National Seismic Hazard Maps for Japan' to provide useful information for disaster prevention countermeasures for the country and local public agencies, as well as promote public awareness of disaster prevention of earthquakes. In the course of making the year 2009 version of the map, which is the commemorate of the tenth anniversary of the settlement of the Comprehensive Basic Policy, the methods to evaluate magnitude of earthquakes, to predict strong ground motion, and to construct underground structure were investigated in the Earthquake Research Committee and its subcommittees. In order to predict the magnitude of earthquakes occurring on mega-fault systems, we examined the scaling relations for mega-fault systems using 11 earthquakes of which source processes were analyzed by waveform inversion and of which surface information was investigated. As a result, we found that the data fit in between the scaling relations of seismic moment and rupture area by Somerville et al. (1999) and Irikura and Miyake (2001). We also found that maximum displacement of surface rupture is two to three times larger than the average slip on the seismic fault and surface fault length is equal to length of the source fault. Furthermore, compiled data of the source fault shows that displacement saturates at 10m when fault length(L) is beyond 100km, L>100km. By assuming the fault width (W) to be 18km in average of inland earthquakes in Japan, and the displacement saturate at 10m for length of more than 100 km, we derived a new scaling relation between source area and seismic moment, S[km^2] = 1.0 x 10^-17 M0 [Nm] for mega-fault systems that seismic moment (M0) exceeds 1.8×10^20 Nm.

MyShake - A smartphone app to detect earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kong, Q.; Allen, R. M.; Schreier, L.; Kwon, Y. W.

2015-12-01

We designed an android app that harnesses the accelerometers in personal smartphones to record earthquake-shaking data for research, hazard information and warnings. The app has the function to distinguish earthquake shakings from daily human activities based on the different patterns behind the movements. It also can be triggered by the traditional earthquake early warning (EEW) system to record for a certain amount of time to collect earthquake data. When the app is triggered by the earthquake-like movements, it sends the trigger information back to our server which contains time and location of the trigger, at the same time, it stores the waveform data on local phone first, and upload to our server later. Trigger information from multiple phones will be processed in real time on the server to find the coherent signal to confirm the earthquakes. Therefore, the app provides the basis to form a smartphone seismic network that can detect earthquake and even provide warnings. A planned public roll-out of MyShake could collect millions of seismic recordings for large earthquakes in many regions around the world.

Two-year survey comparing earthquake activity and injection-well locations in the Barnett Shale, Texas

PubMed Central

Frohlich, Cliff

2012-01-01

Between November 2009 and September 2011, temporary seismographs deployed under the EarthScope USArray program were situated on a 70-km grid covering the Barnett Shale in Texas, recording data that allowed sensing and locating regional earthquakes with magnitudes 1.5 and larger. I analyzed these data and located 67 earthquakes, more than eight times as many as reported by the National Earthquake Information Center. All 24 of the most reliably located epicenters occurred in eight groups within 3.2 km of one or more injection wells. These included wells near Dallas–Fort Worth and Cleburne, Texas, where earthquakes near injection wells were reported by the media in 2008 and 2009, as well as wells in six other locations, including several where no earthquakes have been reported previously. This suggests injection-triggered earthquakes are more common than is generally recognized. All the wells nearest to the earthquake groups reported maximum monthly injection rates exceeding 150,000 barrels of water per month (24,000 m3/mo) since October 2006. However, while 9 of 27 such wells in Johnson County were near earthquakes, elsewhere no earthquakes occurred near wells with similar injection rates. A plausible hypothesis to explain these observations is that injection only triggers earthquakes if injected fluids reach and relieve friction on a suitably oriented, nearby fault that is experiencing regional tectonic stress. Testing this hypothesis would require identifying geographic regions where there is interpreted subsurface structure information available to determine whether there are faults near seismically active and seismically quiescent injection wells. PMID:22869701

Continuing megathrust earthquake potential in Chile after the 2014 Iquique earthquake

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hayes, Gavin P.; Herman, Matthew W.; Barnhart, William D.; Furlong, Kevin P.; Riquelme, Sebástian; Benz, Harley M.; Bergman, Eric; Barrientos, Sergio; Earle, Paul S.; Samsonov, Sergey

2014-01-01

The seismic gap theory identifies regions of elevated hazard based on a lack of recent seismicity in comparison with other portions of a fault. It has successfully explained past earthquakes (see, for example, ref. 2) and is useful for qualitatively describing where large earthquakes might occur. A large earthquake had been expected in the subduction zone adjacent to northern Chile which had not ruptured in a megathrust earthquake since a M ~8.8 event in 1877. On 1 April 2014 a M 8.2 earthquake occurred within this seismic gap. Here we present an assessment of the seismotectonics of the March–April 2014 Iquique sequence, including analyses of earthquake relocations, moment tensors, finite fault models, moment deficit calculations and cumulative Coulomb stress transfer. This ensemble of information allows us to place the sequence within the context of regional seismicity and to identify areas of remaining and/or elevated hazard. Our results constrain the size and spatial extent of rupture, and indicate that this was not the earthquake that had been anticipated. Significant sections of the northern Chile subduction zone have not ruptured in almost 150 years, so it is likely that future megathrust earthquakes will occur to the south and potentially to the north of the 2014 Iquique sequence.

Continuing megathrust earthquake potential in Chile after the 2014 Iquique earthquake.

PubMed

Hayes, Gavin P; Herman, Matthew W; Barnhart, William D; Furlong, Kevin P; Riquelme, Sebástian; Benz, Harley M; Bergman, Eric; Barrientos, Sergio; Earle, Paul S; Samsonov, Sergey

2014-08-21

The seismic gap theory identifies regions of elevated hazard based on a lack of recent seismicity in comparison with other portions of a fault. It has successfully explained past earthquakes (see, for example, ref. 2) and is useful for qualitatively describing where large earthquakes might occur. A large earthquake had been expected in the subduction zone adjacent to northern Chile, which had not ruptured in a megathrust earthquake since a M ∼8.8 event in 1877. On 1 April 2014 a M 8.2 earthquake occurred within this seismic gap. Here we present an assessment of the seismotectonics of the March-April 2014 Iquique sequence, including analyses of earthquake relocations, moment tensors, finite fault models, moment deficit calculations and cumulative Coulomb stress transfer. This ensemble of information allows us to place the sequence within the context of regional seismicity and to identify areas of remaining and/or elevated hazard. Our results constrain the size and spatial extent of rupture, and indicate that this was not the earthquake that had been anticipated. Significant sections of the northern Chile subduction zone have not ruptured in almost 150 years, so it is likely that future megathrust earthquakes will occur to the south and potentially to the north of the 2014 Iquique sequence.

National Earthquake Information Center systems overview and integration

USGS Publications Warehouse

Guy, Michelle R.; Patton, John M.; Fee, Jeremy; Hearne, Mike; Martinez, Eric; Ketchum, D.; Worden, Charles; Quitoriano, Vince; Hunter, Edward; Smoczyk, Gregory; Schwarz, Stan

2015-08-18

It is important to note that this document provides a brief introduction to the work of dozens of software developers and IT specialists, spanning in many cases more than a decade. References to significant amounts of supporting documentation, code, and information are supplied within.

Earthquake and Tsunami booklet based on two Indonesia earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hayashi, Y.; Aci, M.

2014-12-01

Many destructive earthquakes occurred during the last decade in Indonesia. These experiences are very important precepts for the world people who live in earthquake and tsunami countries. We are collecting the testimonies of tsunami survivors to clarify successful evacuation process and to make clear the characteristic physical behaviors of tsunami near coast. We research 2 tsunami events, 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and 2010 Mentawai slow earthquake tsunami. Many video and photographs were taken by people at some places in 2004 Indian ocean tsunami disaster; nevertheless these were few restricted points. We didn't know the tsunami behavior in another place. In this study, we tried to collect extensive information about tsunami behavior not only in many places but also wide time range after the strong shake. In Mentawai case, the earthquake occurred in night, so there are no impressive photos. To collect detail information about evacuation process from tsunamis, we contrived the interview method. This method contains making pictures of tsunami experience from the scene of victims' stories. In 2004 Aceh case, all survivors didn't know tsunami phenomena. Because there were no big earthquakes with tsunami for one hundred years in Sumatra region, public people had no knowledge about tsunami. This situation was highly improved in 2010 Mentawai case. TV programs and NGO or governmental public education programs about tsunami evacuation are widespread in Indonesia. Many people know about fundamental knowledge of earthquake and tsunami disasters. We made drill book based on victim's stories and painted impressive scene of 2 events. We used the drill book in disaster education event in school committee of west Java. About 80 % students and teachers evaluated that the contents of the drill book are useful for correct understanding.

Constraining the Long-Term Average of Earthquake Recurrence Intervals From Paleo- and Historic Earthquakes by Assimilating Information From Instrumental Seismicity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zoeller, G.

2017-12-01

Paleo- and historic earthquakes are the most important source of information for the estimationof long-term recurrence intervals in fault zones, because sequences of paleoearthquakes cover more than one seismic cycle. On the other hand, these events are often rare, dating uncertainties are enormous and the problem of missing or misinterpreted events leads to additional problems. Taking these shortcomings into account, long-term recurrence intervals are usually unstable as long as no additional information are included. In the present study, we assume that the time to the next major earthquake depends on the rate of small and intermediate events between the large ones in terms of a ``clock-change'' model that leads to a Brownian Passage Time distribution for recurrence intervals. We take advantage of an earlier finding that the aperiodicity of this distribution can be related to the Gutenberg-Richter-b-value, which is usually around one and can be estimated easily from instrumental seismicity in the region under consideration. This allows to reduce the uncertainties in the estimation of the mean recurrence interval significantly, especially for short paleoearthquake sequences and high dating uncertainties. We present illustrative case studies from Southern California and compare the method with the commonly used approach of exponentially distributed recurrence times assuming a stationary Poisson process.

Twitter earthquake detection: Earthquake monitoring in a social world

USGS Publications Warehouse

Earle, Paul S.; Bowden, Daniel C.; Guy, Michelle R.

2011-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is investigating how the social networking site Twitter, a popular service for sending and receiving short, public text messages, can augment USGS earthquake response products and the delivery of hazard information. Rapid detection and qualitative assessment of shaking events are possible because people begin sending public Twitter messages (tweets) with in tens of seconds after feeling shaking. Here we present and evaluate an earthquake detection procedure that relies solely on Twitter data. A tweet-frequency time series constructed from tweets containing the word "earthquake" clearly shows large peaks correlated with the origin times of widely felt events. To identify possible earthquakes, we use a short-term-average, long-term-average algorithm. When tuned to a moderate sensitivity, the detector finds 48 globally-distributed earthquakes with only two false triggers in five months of data. The number of detections is small compared to the 5,175 earthquakes in the USGS global earthquake catalog for the same five-month time period, and no accurate location or magnitude can be assigned based on tweet data alone. However, Twitter earthquake detections are not without merit. The detections are generally caused by widely felt events that are of more immediate interest than those with no human impact. The detections are also fast; about 75% occur within two minutes of the origin time. This is considerably faster than seismographic detections in poorly instrumented regions of the world. The tweets triggering the detections also provided very short first-impression narratives from people who experienced the shaking.

Technical guidelines for the implementation of the Advanced National Seismic System

USGS Publications Warehouse

Committee, ANSS Technical Integration

2002-01-01

The Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS) is a major national initiative led by the US Geological Survey that serves the needs of the earthquake monitoring, engineering, and research communities as well as national, state, and local governments, emergency response organizations, and the general public. Legislation authorizing the ANSS was passed in 2000, and low levels of funding for planning and initial purchases of new seismic instrumentation have been appropriated beginning in FY2000. When fully operational, the ANSS will be an advanced monitoring system (modern digital seismographs and accelerographs, communications networks, data collection and processing centers, and well-trained personnel) distributed across the United States that operates with high performance standards, gathers critical technical data, and effectively provides timely and reliable earthquake products, information, and services to meet the Nation’s needs. The ANSS will automatically broadcast timely and authoritative products describing the occurrence of earthquakes, earthquake source properties, the distribution of ground shaking, and, where feasible, broadcast early warnings and alerts for the onset of strong ground shaking. Most importantly, the ANSS will provide earthquake data, derived products, and information to the public, emergency responders, officials, engineers, educators, researchers, and other ANSS partners rapidly and in forms that are useful for their needs.

Earthquake Preparedness Among Japanese Hemodialysis Patients in Prefectures Heavily Damaged by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.

PubMed

Sugisawa, Hidehiro; Shimizu, Yumiko; Kumagai, Tamaki; Sugisaki, Hiroaki; Ohira, Seiji; Shinoda, Toshio

2017-08-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the factors related to earthquake preparedness in Japanese hemodialysis patients. We focused on three aspects of the related factors: health condition factors, social factors, and the experience of disasters. A mail survey of all the members of the Japan Association of Kidney Disease Patients in three Japanese prefectures (N = 4085) was conducted in March, 2013. We obtained 1841 valid responses for analysis. The health factors covered were: activities of daily living (ADL), mental distress, primary renal diseases, and the duration of dialysis. The social factors were: socioeconomic status, family structure, informational social support, and the provision of information regarding earthquake preparedness from dialysis facilities. The results show that the average percentage of participants that had met each criterion of earthquake preparedness in 2013 was 53%. Hemodialysis patients without disabled ADL, without mental distress, and requiring longer periods of dialysis, were likely to meet more of the earthquake preparedness criteria. Hemodialysis patients who had received informational social support from family or friends, had lived with spouse and children in comparison to living alone, and had obtained information regarding earthquake preparedness from dialysis facilities, were also likely to meet more of the earthquake preparedness criteria. © 2017 International Society for Apheresis, Japanese Society for Apheresis, and Japanese Society for Dialysis Therapy.

Analysis of the burns profile and the admission rate of severely burned adult patient to the National Burn Center of Chile after the 2010 earthquake.

PubMed

Albornoz, Claudia; Villegas, Jorge; Sylvester, Marilu; Peña, Veronica; Bravo, Iside

2011-06-01

Chile is located in the Ring of Fire, in South America. An earthquake 8.8° affected 80% of the population in February 27th, 2010. This study was conducted to assess any change in burns profile caused by the earthquake. This was an ecologic study. We compared the 4 months following the earthquake in 2009 and 2010. age, TBSA, deep TBSA, agent, specific mortality rate and rate of admissions to the National burn Center of Chile. Mann-Whitney test and a Poisson regression were performed. Age, agent, TBSA and deep TBSA percentages did not show any difference. Mortality rate was lower in 2010 (0.52 versus 1.22 per 1,000,000 habitants) but no meaningful difference was found (Poisson regression p = 0.06). Admission rate was lower in 2010, 4.6 versus 5.6 per 1,000,000 habitants, but no differences were found (p = 0.26). There was not any admissions directly related to the earthquake. As we do not have incidence registries in Chile, we propose to use the rate of admission to the National Burn Reference Center as an incidence estimator. There was not any significant difference in the burn profile, probably because of the time of the earthquake (3 am). We conclude the earthquake did not affect the way the Chilean people get burned. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.

Seeking Information after the 2010 Haiti Earthquake: A Case Study in Mass-Fatality Management

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gupta, Kailash

2013-01-01

The 2010 earthquake in Haiti, which killed an estimated 316,000 people, offered many lessons in mass-fatality management (MFM). The dissertation defined MFM in seeking information and in recovery, preservation, identification, and disposition of human remains. Specifically, it examined how mass fatalities were managed in Haiti, how affected…

Mitigating the consequences of future earthquakes in historical centres: what perspectives from the joined use of past information and geological-geophysical surveys?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Terenzio Gizzi, Fabrizio; Moscatelli, Massimiliano; Potenza, Maria Rosaria; Zotta, Cinzia; Simionato, Maurizio; Pileggi, Domenico; Castenetto, Sergio

2015-04-01

To mitigate the damage effects of earthquakes in urban areas and particularly in historical centres prone to high seismic hazard is an important task to be pursued. As a matter of fact, seismic history throughout the world informs us that earthquakes have caused deep changes in the ancient urban conglomerations due to their high building vulnerability. Furthermore, some quarters can be exposed to an increase of seismic actions if compared with adjacent areas due to the geological and/or topographical features of the site on which the historical centres lie. Usually, the strategies aimed to estimate the local seismic hazard make only use of the geological-geophysical surveys. Thorough this approach we do not draw any lesson from what happened as a consequences of past earthquakes. With this in mind, we present the results of a joined use of historical data and traditional geological-geophysical approach to analyse the effects of possible future earthquakes in historical centres. The research activity discussed here is arranged into a joint collaboration between the Department of Civil Protection of the Presidency of Council of Ministers, the Institute of Environmental Geology and Geoengineering and the Institute of Archaeological and Monumental Heritage of the National (Italian) Research Council. In order to show the results, we discuss the preliminary achievements of the integrated study carried out on two historical towns located in Southern Apennines, a portion of the Italian peninsula exposed to high seismic hazard. Taking advantage from these two test sites, we also discuss some methodological implications that could be taken as a reference in the seismic microzonation studies.

Earthquake magnitude estimation using the τ c and P d method for earthquake early warning systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jin, Xing; Zhang, Hongcai; Li, Jun; Wei, Yongxiang; Ma, Qiang

2013-10-01

Earthquake early warning (EEW) systems are one of the most effective ways to reduce earthquake disaster. Earthquake magnitude estimation is one of the most important and also the most difficult parts of the entire EEW system. In this paper, based on 142 earthquake events and 253 seismic records that were recorded by the KiK-net in Japan, and aftershocks of the large Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan, we obtained earthquake magnitude estimation relationships using the τ c and P d methods. The standard variances of magnitude calculation of these two formulas are ±0.65 and ±0.56, respectively. The P d value can also be used to estimate the peak ground motion of velocity, then warning information can be released to the public rapidly, according to the estimation results. In order to insure the stability and reliability of magnitude estimation results, we propose a compatibility test according to the natures of these two parameters. The reliability of the early warning information is significantly improved though this test.

Earthquake early warning for Romania - most recent improvements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marmureanu, Alexandru; Elia, Luca; Martino, Claudio; Colombelli, Simona; Zollo, Aldo; Cioflan, Carmen; Toader, Victorin; Marmureanu, Gheorghe; Marius Craiu, George; Ionescu, Constantin

2014-05-01

EWS for Vrancea earthquakes uses the time interval (28-32 sec.) between the moment when the earthquake is detected by the local seismic network installed in the epicenter area (Vrancea) and the arrival time of the seismic waves in the protected area (Bucharest) to send earthquake warning to users. In the last years, National Institute for Earth Physics (NIEP) upgraded its seismic network in order to cover better the seismic zones of Romania. Currently the National Institute for Earth Physics (NIEP) operates a real-time seismic network designed to monitor the seismic activity on the Romania territory, dominated by the Vrancea intermediate-depth (60-200 km) earthquakes. The NIEP real-time network consists of 102 stations and two seismic arrays equipped with different high quality digitizers (Kinemetrics K2, Quanterra Q330, Quanterra Q330HR, PS6-26, Basalt), broadband and short period seismometers (CMG3ESP, CMG40T, KS2000, KS54000, KS2000, CMG3T,STS2, SH-1, S13, Ranger, gs21, Mark l22) and acceleration sensors (Episensor). Recent improvement of the seismic network and real-time communication technologies allows implementation of a nation-wide EEWS for Vrancea and other seismic sources from Romania. We present a regional approach to Earthquake Early Warning for Romania earthquakes. The regional approach is based on PRESTo (Probabilistic and Evolutionary early warning SysTem) software platform: PRESTo processes in real-time three channel acceleration data streams: once the P-waves arrival have been detected, it provides earthquake location and magnitude estimations, and peak ground motion predictions at target sites. PRESTo is currently implemented in real- time at National Institute for Earth Physics, Bucharest for several months in parallel with a secondary EEWS. The alert notification is issued only when both systems validate each other. Here we present the results obtained using offline earthquakes originating from Vrancea area together with several real

Lessons from M 7.2 Seismic Event and How to Preserve Awareness Forty Years Later: The Case of the Vrancea, Romania, March 4, 1977 Earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Craifaleanu, Iolanda-Gabriela; Georgescu, Emil-Sever; Dragomir, Claudiu-Sorin

2016-10-01

Almost four decades after the MG-R = 7.2 (Mw =7.4) catastrophic earthquake of March 4, 1977 hit Romania, the population fears a new strong earthquake; however, awareness on preparedness and mitigation measures is rather low. As the last Mw > 6 has occurred in 1990, there is an increasing percentage of young population that has not yet witnessed a strong earthquake, and which has a rather fuzzy representation of urban and geological earthquake effects. After each strong seismic event in the past, due to its specific attributions, the National Institute for Building Research, INCERC, collected a considerable amount of information about the earthquake effects on built environment and lifelines, geological effects etc. To this, information from various documentary sources about damage caused by historic earthquakes was added by the institute's specialists. Stored today in the archives of the National Institute for Research and Development in Construction, Urban Planning and Sustainable Spatial Development, “URBAN-INCERC”, INCERC Bucharest Branch, this information is invaluable today for evaluating the present and future seismic risk of the country. Nonetheless, it could represent an essential educational resource for university students and young professionals in the field of civil engineering, seismology, geology, economy, sociology, history etc. and for raising population awareness on seismic risk mitigation measures. The paper presents new approaches for the dissemination and re-valuation of the March 4, 1977 earthquake data, from the perspective of present scientific knowledge.

MyShake: A smartphone seismic network for earthquake early warning and beyond.

PubMed

Kong, Qingkai; Allen, Richard M; Schreier, Louis; Kwon, Young-Woo

2016-02-01

Large magnitude earthquakes in urban environments continue to kill and injure tens to hundreds of thousands of people, inflicting lasting societal and economic disasters. Earthquake early warning (EEW) provides seconds to minutes of warning, allowing people to move to safe zones and automated slowdown and shutdown of transit and other machinery. The handful of EEW systems operating around the world use traditional seismic and geodetic networks that exist only in a few nations. Smartphones are much more prevalent than traditional networks and contain accelerometers that can also be used to detect earthquakes. We report on the development of a new type of seismic system, MyShake, that harnesses personal/private smartphone sensors to collect data and analyze earthquakes. We show that smartphones can record magnitude 5 earthquakes at distances of 10 km or less and develop an on-phone detection capability to separate earthquakes from other everyday shakes. Our proof-of-concept system then collects earthquake data at a central site where a network detection algorithm confirms that an earthquake is under way and estimates the location and magnitude in real time. This information can then be used to issue an alert of forthcoming ground shaking. MyShake could be used to enhance EEW in regions with traditional networks and could provide the only EEW capability in regions without. In addition, the seismic waveforms recorded could be used to deliver rapid microseism maps, study impacts on buildings, and possibly image shallow earth structure and earthquake rupture kinematics.

Building Loss Estimation for Earthquake Insurance Pricing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Durukal, E.; Erdik, M.; Sesetyan, K.; Demircioglu, M. B.; Fahjan, Y.; Siyahi, B.

2005-12-01

After the 1999 earthquakes in Turkey several changes in the insurance sector took place. A compulsory earthquake insurance scheme was introduced by the government. The reinsurance companies increased their rates. Some even supended operations in the market. And, most important, the insurance companies realized the importance of portfolio analysis in shaping their future market strategies. The paper describes an earthquake loss assessment methodology that can be used for insurance pricing and portfolio loss estimation that is based on our work esperience in the insurance market. The basic ingredients are probabilistic and deterministic regional site dependent earthquake hazard, regional building inventory (and/or portfolio), building vulnerabilities associated with typical construction systems in Turkey and estimations of building replacement costs for different damage levels. Probable maximum and average annualized losses are estimated as the result of analysis. There is a two-level earthquake insurance system in Turkey, the effect of which is incorporated in the algorithm: the national compulsory earthquake insurance scheme and the private earthquake insurance system. To buy private insurance one has to be covered by the national system, that has limited coverage. As a demonstration of the methodology we look at the case of Istanbul and use its building inventory data instead of a portfolio. A state-of-the-art time depent earthquake hazard model that portrays the increased earthquake expectancies in Istanbul is used. Intensity and spectral displacement based vulnerability relationships are incorporated in the analysis. In particular we look at the uncertainty in the loss estimations that arise from the vulnerability relationships, and at the effect of the implemented repair cost ratios.

Characterization of intermittency in renewal processes: Application to earthquakes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Akimoto, Takuma; Hasumi, Tomohiro; Aizawa, Yoji

2010-03-15

We construct a one-dimensional piecewise linear intermittent map from the interevent time distribution for a given renewal process. Then, we characterize intermittency by the asymptotic behavior near the indifferent fixed point in the piecewise linear intermittent map. Thus, we provide a framework to understand a unified characterization of intermittency and also present the Lyapunov exponent for renewal processes. This method is applied to the occurrence of earthquakes using the Japan Meteorological Agency and the National Earthquake Information Center catalog. By analyzing the return map of interevent times, we find that interevent times are not independent and identically distributed random variablesmore » but that the conditional probability distribution functions in the tail obey the Weibull distribution.« less

Geophysical advances triggered by 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake

USGS Publications Warehouse

Haeussler, Peter J.; Leith, William S.; Wald, David J.; Filson, John R.; Wolfe, Cecily; Applegate, David

2014-01-01

A little more than 50 years ago, on 27 March 1964, the Great Alaska earthquake and tsunami struck. At moment magnitude 9.2, this earthquake is notable as the largest in U.S. written history and as the second-largest ever recorded by instruments worldwide. But what resonates today are its impacts on the understanding of plate tectonics, tsunami generation, and earthquake history as well as on the development of national programs to reduce risk from earthquakes and tsunamis.

Development of a Low Cost Earthquake Early Warning System in Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Y. M.

2017-12-01

The National Taiwan University (NTU) developed an earthquake early warning (EEW) system for research purposes using low-cost accelerometers (P-Alert) since 2010. As of 2017, a total of 650 stations have been deployed and configured. The NTU system can provide earthquake information within 15 s of an earthquake occurrence. Thus, this system may provide early warnings for cities located more than 50 km from the epicenter. Additionally, the NTU system also has an onsite alert function that triggers a warning for incoming P-waves greater than a certain magnitude threshold, thus providing a 2-3 s lead time before peak ground acceleration (PGA) for regions close to an epicenter. Detailed shaking maps are produced by the NTU system within one or two minutes after an earthquake. Recently, a new module named ShakeAlarm has been developed. Equipped with real-time acceleration signals and the time-dependent anisotropic attenuation relationship of the PGA, ShakingAlarm can provide an accurate PGA estimation immediately before the arrival of the observed PGA. This unique advantage produces sufficient lead time for hazard assessment and emergency response, which is unavailable for traditional shakemap, which are based on only the PGA observed in real time. The performance of ShakingAlarm was tested with six M > 5.5 inland earthquakes from 2013 to 2016. Taking the 2016 M6.4 Meinong earthquake simulation as an example, the predicted PGA converges to a stable value and produces a predicted shake map and an isocontour map of the predicted PGA within 16 seconds of earthquake occurrence. Compared with traditional regional EEW system, ShakingAlarm can effectively identify possible damage regions and provide valuable early warning information (magnitude and PGA) for risk mitigation.

U.S. Geological Survey National Strong-Motion Project strategic plan, 2017–22

USGS Publications Warehouse

Aagaard, Brad T.; Celebi, Mehmet; Gee, Lind; Graves, Robert; Jaiswal, Kishor; Kalkan, Erol; Knudsen, Keith L.; Luco, Nicolas; Smith, James; Steidl, Jamison; Stephens, Christopher D.

2017-12-11

The mission of the National Strong-Motion Project is to provide measurements of how the ground and built environment behave during earthquake shaking to the earthquake engineering community, the scientific community, emergency managers, public agencies, industry, media, and other users for the following purposes: Improving engineering evaluations and design methods for facilities and systems;Providing timely information for earthquake early warning, damage assessment, and emergency response action; andContributing to a greater understanding of the mechanics of earthquake rupture, groundmotion characteristics, and earthquake effects.

What Can Sounds Tell Us About Earthquake Interactions?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aiken, C.; Peng, Z.

2012-12-01

It is important not only for seismologists but also for educators to effectively convey information about earthquakes and the influences earthquakes can have on each other. Recent studies using auditory display [e.g. Kilb et al., 2012; Peng et al. 2012] have depicted catastrophic earthquakes and the effects large earthquakes can have on other parts of the world. Auditory display of earthquakes, which combines static images with time-compressed sound of recorded seismic data, is a new approach to disseminating information to a general audience about earthquakes and earthquake interactions. Earthquake interactions are influential to understanding the underlying physics of earthquakes and other seismic phenomena such as tremors in addition to their source characteristics (e.g. frequency contents, amplitudes). Earthquake interactions can include, for example, a large, shallow earthquake followed by increased seismicity around the mainshock rupture (i.e. aftershocks) or even a large earthquake triggering earthquakes or tremors several hundreds to thousands of kilometers away [Hill and Prejean, 2007; Peng and Gomberg, 2010]. We use standard tools like MATLAB, QuickTime Pro, and Python to produce animations that illustrate earthquake interactions. Our efforts are focused on producing animations that depict cross-section (side) views of tremors triggered along the San Andreas Fault by distant earthquakes, as well as map (bird's eye) views of mainshock-aftershock sequences such as the 2011/08/23 Mw5.8 Virginia earthquake sequence. These examples of earthquake interactions include sonifying earthquake and tremor catalogs as musical notes (e.g. piano keys) as well as audifying seismic data using time-compression. Our overall goal is to use auditory display to invigorate a general interest in earthquake seismology that leads to the understanding of how earthquakes occur, how earthquakes influence one another as well as tremors, and what the musical properties of these

CISN Display Progress to Date - Reliable Delivery of Real-Time Earthquake Information, and ShakeMap to Critical End Users

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rico, H.; Hauksson, E.; Thomas, E.; Friberg, P.; Frechette, K.; Given, D.

2003-12-01

The California Integrated Seismic Network (CISN) has collaborated to develop a next-generation earthquake notification system that is nearing its first operations-ready release. The CISN Display actively alerts users of seismic data, and vital earthquake hazards information following a significant event. It will primarily replace the Caltech/USGS Broadcast of Earthquakes (CUBE) and Rapid Earthquake Data Integration (REDI) Display as the principal means of delivering geographical seismic data to emergency operations centers, utility companies and media outlets. A subsequent goal is to provide automated access to the many Web products produced by regional seismic networks after an earthquake. Another aim is to create a highly configurable client, allowing user organizations to overlay infrastructure data critical to their roles as first-responders, or lifeline operators. And the final goal is to integrate these requirements, into a package offering several layers of reliability to ensure delivery of services. Central to the CISN Display's role as a gateway to Web-based earthquake products is its comprehensive XML-messaging schema. The message model uses many of the same attributes in the CUBE format, but extends the old standard by provisioning additional elements for products currently available, and others yet to be considered. The client consumes these XML-messages, sorts them through a resident Quake Data Merge filter, and posts updates that also include hyperlinks associated to specific event IDs on the display map. Earthquake products available for delivery to the CISN Display are ShakeMap, focal mechanisms, waveform data, felt reports, aftershock forecasts and earthquake commentaries. By design the XML-message schema can evolve as products and information needs change, without breaking existing applications that rely on it. The latest version of the CISN Display can also automatically download ShakeMaps and display shaking intensity within the GIS system. This

Thermal Infrared Anomalies of Several Strong Earthquakes

PubMed Central

Wei, Congxin; Guo, Xiao; Qin, Manzhong

2013-01-01

In the history of earthquake thermal infrared research, it is undeniable that before and after strong earthquakes there are significant thermal infrared anomalies which have been interpreted as preseismic precursor in earthquake prediction and forecasting. In this paper, we studied the characteristics of thermal radiation observed before and after the 8 great earthquakes with magnitude up to Ms7.0 by using the satellite infrared remote sensing information. We used new types of data and method to extract the useful anomaly information. Based on the analyses of 8 earthquakes, we got the results as follows. (1) There are significant thermal radiation anomalies before and after earthquakes for all cases. The overall performance of anomalies includes two main stages: expanding first and narrowing later. We easily extracted and identified such seismic anomalies by method of “time-frequency relative power spectrum.” (2) There exist evident and different characteristic periods and magnitudes of thermal abnormal radiation for each case. (3) Thermal radiation anomalies are closely related to the geological structure. (4) Thermal radiation has obvious characteristics in abnormal duration, range, and morphology. In summary, we should be sure that earthquake thermal infrared anomalies as useful earthquake precursor can be used in earthquake prediction and forecasting. PMID:24222728

Thermal infrared anomalies of several strong earthquakes.

PubMed

Wei, Congxin; Zhang, Yuansheng; Guo, Xiao; Hui, Shaoxing; Qin, Manzhong; Zhang, Ying

2013-01-01

In the history of earthquake thermal infrared research, it is undeniable that before and after strong earthquakes there are significant thermal infrared anomalies which have been interpreted as preseismic precursor in earthquake prediction and forecasting. In this paper, we studied the characteristics of thermal radiation observed before and after the 8 great earthquakes with magnitude up to Ms7.0 by using the satellite infrared remote sensing information. We used new types of data and method to extract the useful anomaly information. Based on the analyses of 8 earthquakes, we got the results as follows. (1) There are significant thermal radiation anomalies before and after earthquakes for all cases. The overall performance of anomalies includes two main stages: expanding first and narrowing later. We easily extracted and identified such seismic anomalies by method of "time-frequency relative power spectrum." (2) There exist evident and different characteristic periods and magnitudes of thermal abnormal radiation for each case. (3) Thermal radiation anomalies are closely related to the geological structure. (4) Thermal radiation has obvious characteristics in abnormal duration, range, and morphology. In summary, we should be sure that earthquake thermal infrared anomalies as useful earthquake precursor can be used in earthquake prediction and forecasting.

Automated Radar Image of Deformation for Amatrice, Italy Earthquake

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-08-31

Amatrice earthquake in central Italy, which caused widespread building damage to several towns throughout the region. This earthquake was the strongest in that area since the 2009 earthquake that destroyed the city of L'Aquila. The Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis (ARIA) data system, a collaborative project between NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, and the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, automatically generated interferometric synthetic aperture radar images from the Copernicus Sentinel 1A satellite operated by the European Space Agency (ESA) for the European Commission to calculate a map of the deformation of Earth's surface caused by the quake. This false-color map shows the amount of permanent surface movement, as viewed by the satellite, during a 12-day interval between two Sentinel 1 images acquired on Aug. 15, 2016, and Aug. 27, 2016. The movement was caused almost entirely by the earthquake. In this map, the colors of the surface displacements are proportional to the surface motion. The red and pink tones show the areas where the land moved toward the satellite by up to 2 inches (5 centimeters). The area with various shades of blue moved away from the satellite, mostly downward, by as much as 8 inches (20 centimeters). Contours on the surface motion are 2 inches (5 centimeters) The green star shows the epicenter where the earthquake started as located by the U.S. Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center. Black dots show town locations. Scientists use these maps to build detailed models of the fault slip at depth and associated land movements to better understand the impact on future earthquake activity. The map shows the fault or faults that moved in the earthquake is about 14 miles (22 kilometers) long between Amatrice and Norcia and slopes to the west beneath the area that moved downward. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20896

Emergency medical rescue efforts after a major earthquake: lessons from the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake.

PubMed

Zhang, Lulu; Liu, Xu; Li, Youping; Liu, Yuan; Liu, Zhipeng; Lin, Juncong; Shen, Ji; Tang, Xuefeng; Zhang, Yi; Liang, Wannian

2012-03-03

Major earthquakes often result in incalculable environmental damage, loss of life, and threats to health. Tremendous progress has been made in response to many medical challenges resulting from earthquakes. However, emergency medical rescue is complicated, and great emphasis should be placed on its organisation to achieve the best results. The 2008 Wenchuan earthquake was one of the most devastating disasters in the past 10 years and caused more than 370,000 casualties. The lessons learnt from the medical disaster relief effort and the subsequent knowledge gained about the regulation and capabilities of medical and military back-up teams should be widely disseminated. In this Review we summarise and analyse the emergency medical rescue efforts after the Wenchuan earthquake. Establishment of a national disaster medical response system, an active and effective commanding system, successful coordination between rescue forces and government agencies, effective treatment, a moderate, timely and correct public health response, and long-term psychological support are all crucial to reduce mortality and morbidity and promote overall effectiveness of rescue efforts after a major earthquake. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Gas injection may have triggered earthquakes in the Cogdell oil field, Texas.

PubMed

Gan, Wei; Frohlich, Cliff

2013-11-19

Between 1957 and 1982, water flooding was conducted to improve petroleum production in the Cogdell oil field north of Snyder, TX, and a contemporary analysis concluded this induced earthquakes that occurred between 1975 and 1982. The National Earthquake Information Center detected no further activity between 1983 and 2005, but between 2006 and 2011 reported 18 earthquakes having magnitudes 3 and greater. To investigate these earthquakes, we analyzed data recorded by six temporary seismograph stations deployed by the USArray program, and identified 93 well-recorded earthquakes occurring between March 2009 and December 2010. Relocation with a double-difference method shows that most earthquakes occurred within several northeast-southwest-trending linear clusters, with trends corresponding to nodal planes of regional focal mechanisms, possibly indicating the presence of previously unidentified faults. We have evaluated data concerning injection and extraction of oil, water, and gas in the Cogdell field. Water injection cannot explain the 2006-2011 earthquakes, especially as net volumes (injection minus extraction) are significantly less than in the 1957-1982 period. However, since 2004 significant volumes of gases including supercritical CO2 have been injected into the Cogdell field. The timing of gas injection suggests it may have contributed to triggering the recent seismic activity. If so, this represents an instance where gas injection has triggered earthquakes having magnitudes 3 and larger. Further modeling studies may help evaluate recent assertions suggesting significant risks accompany large-scale carbon capture and storage as a strategy for managing climate change.

Triggering and modulation of geyser eruptions in Yellowstone National Park by earthquakes, earth tides, and weather

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hurwitz, Shaul; Sohn, Robert A.; Luttrell, Karen; Manga, Michael

2014-01-01

We analyze intervals between eruptions (IBEs) data acquired between 2001 and 2011 at Daisy and Old Faithful geysers in Yellowstone National Park. We focus our statistical analysis on the response of these geysers to stress perturbations from within the solid earth (earthquakes and earth tides) and from weather (air pressure and temperature, precipitation, and wind). We conclude that (1) the IBEs of these geysers are insensitive to periodic stresses induced by solid earth tides and barometric pressure variations; (2) Daisy (pool geyser) IBEs lengthen by evaporation and heat loss in response to large wind storms and cold air; and (3) Old Faithful (cone geyser) IBEs are not modulated by air temperature and pressure variations, wind, and precipitation, suggesting that the subsurface water column is decoupled from the atmosphere. Dynamic stress changes of 0.1−0.2 MPa resulting from the 2002 M-7.9 Denali, Alaska, earthquake surface waves caused a statistically significant shortening of Daisy geyser's IBEs. Stresses induced by other large global earthquakes during the study period were at least an order of magnitude smaller. In contrast, dynamic stresses of >0.5 MPa from three large regional earthquakes in 1959, 1975, and 1983 caused lengthening of Old Faithful's IBEs. We infer that most subannual geyser IBE variability is dominated by internal processes and interaction with other geysers. The results of this study provide quantitative bounds on the sensitivity of hydrothermal systems to external stress perturbations and have implications for studying the triggering and modulation of volcanic eruptions by external forces.

April 25, 2015, Gorkha Earthquake, Nepal and Sequence of Aftershocks: Key Lessons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guragain, R.; Dixit, A. M.; Shrestha, S. N.

2015-12-01

The Gorkha Earthquake of M7.8 hit Nepal on April 25, 2015 at 11:56 am local time. The epicenter of this earthquake was Barpak, Gorkha, 80 km northwest of Kathmandu Valley. The main shock was followed by hundreds of aftershocks including M6.6 and M6.7 within 48 hours and M7.3 on May 12, 2015. According to the Government of Nepal, a total of 8,686 people lost their lives, 16,808 people injured, over 500,000 buildings completely collapsed and more than 250,000 building partially damaged. The National Society for Earthquake Technology - Nepal (NSET), a not-for-profit civil society organization that has been focused on earthquake risk reduction in Nepal for past 21 years, conducted various activities to support people and the government in responding to the earthquake disaster. The activities included: i) assisting people and critical facility institutions to conduct rapid visual building damage assessment including the training; ii) information campaign to provide proper information regarding earthquake safety; iii) support rescue organizations on search and rescue operations; and iv) provide technical support to common people on repair, retrofit of damaged houses. NSET is also involved in carrying out studies related to earthquake damage, geotechnical problems, and causes of building damages. Additionally, NSET has done post-earthquake detail damage assessment of buildings throughout the affected areas. Prior to the earthquake, NSET has been working with several institutions to improve seismic performance of school buildings, private residential houses, and other critical structures. Such activities implemented during the past decade have shown the effectiveness of risk reduction. Retrofitted school buildings performed very well during the earthquake. Preparedness activities implemented at community levels have helped communities to respond immediately and save lives. Higher level of earthquake awareness achieved including safe behavior, better understanding of

MyShake: A smartphone seismic network for earthquake early warning and beyond

PubMed Central

Kong, Qingkai; Allen, Richard M.; Schreier, Louis; Kwon, Young-Woo

2016-01-01

Large magnitude earthquakes in urban environments continue to kill and injure tens to hundreds of thousands of people, inflicting lasting societal and economic disasters. Earthquake early warning (EEW) provides seconds to minutes of warning, allowing people to move to safe zones and automated slowdown and shutdown of transit and other machinery. The handful of EEW systems operating around the world use traditional seismic and geodetic networks that exist only in a few nations. Smartphones are much more prevalent than traditional networks and contain accelerometers that can also be used to detect earthquakes. We report on the development of a new type of seismic system, MyShake, that harnesses personal/private smartphone sensors to collect data and analyze earthquakes. We show that smartphones can record magnitude 5 earthquakes at distances of 10 km or less and develop an on-phone detection capability to separate earthquakes from other everyday shakes. Our proof-of-concept system then collects earthquake data at a central site where a network detection algorithm confirms that an earthquake is under way and estimates the location and magnitude in real time. This information can then be used to issue an alert of forthcoming ground shaking. MyShake could be used to enhance EEW in regions with traditional networks and could provide the only EEW capability in regions without. In addition, the seismic waveforms recorded could be used to deliver rapid microseism maps, study impacts on buildings, and possibly image shallow earth structure and earthquake rupture kinematics. PMID:26933682

Is Your Class a Natural Disaster? It can be... The Real Time Earthquake Education (RTEE) System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Whitlock, J. S.; Furlong, K.

2003-12-01

In cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and its National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) in Golden, Colorado, we have implemented an autonomous version of the NEIC's real-time earthquake database management and earthquake alert system (Earthworm). This is the same system used professionally by the USGS in its earthquake response operations. Utilizing this system, Penn State University students participating in natural hazard classes receive real-time alerts of worldwide earthquake events on cell phones distributed to the class. The students are then responsible for reacting to actual earthquake events, in real-time, with the same data (or lack thereof) as earthquake professionals. The project was first implemented in Spring 2002, and although it had an initial high intrigue and "coolness" factor, the interest of the students waned with time. Through student feedback, we observed that scientific data presented on its own without an educational context does not foster student learning. In order to maximize the impact of real-time data and the accompanying e-media, the students need to become personally involved. Therefore, in collaboration with the Incorporated Research Institutes of Seismology (IRIS), we have begun to develop an online infrastructure that will help teachers and faculty effectively use real-time earthquake information. The Real-Time Earthquake Education (RTEE) website promotes student learning by integrating inquiry-based education modules with real-time earthquake data. The first module guides the students through an exploration of real-time and historic earthquake datasets to model the most important criteria for determining the potential impact of an earthquake. Having provided the students with content knowledge in the first module, the second module presents a more authentic, open-ended educational experience by setting up an earthquake role-play situation. Through the Earthworm system, we have the ability to "set off

Focal mechanisms of earthquakes in Mongolia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sodnomsambuu, D.; Natalia, R.; Gangaadorj, B.; Munkhuu, U.; Davaasuren, G.; Danzansan, E.; Yan, R.; Valentina, M.; Battsetseg, B.

2011-12-01

Focal mechanism data provide information on the relative magnitudes of the principal stresses, so that a tectonic regime can be assigned. Especially such information is useful for the study of intraplate seismic active regions. A study of earthquake focal mechanisms in the territory of Mongolia as landlocked and intraplate region was conducted. We present map of focal mechanisms of earthquakes with M4.5 which occurred in Mongolia and neighboring regions. Focal mechanisms solutions were constrained by the first motion solutions, as well as by waveform modeling, particularly CMT solutions. Four earthquakes have been recorded in Mongolia in XX century with magnitude more than 8, the 1905 M7.9 Tsetserleg and M8.4 Bolnai earthquakes, the 1931 M8.0 Fu Yun earthquake, the 1957 M8.1 Gobi-Altai earthquake. However the map of focal mechanisms of earthquakes in Mongolia allows seeing all seismic active structures: Gobi Altay, Mongolian Altay, active fringe of Hangay dome, Hentii range etc. Earthquakes in the most of Mongolian territory and neighboring China regions are characterized by strike-slip and reverse movements. Strike-slip movements also are typical for earthquakes in Altay Range in Russia. The north of Mongolia and south part of the Baikal area is a region where have been occurred earthquakes with different focal mechanisms. This region is a zone of the transition between compressive regime associated to India-Eurasian collision and extensive structures localized in north of the country as Huvsgul area and Baykal rift. Earthquakes in the Baikal basin itself are characterized by normal movements. Earthquakes in Trans-Baikal zone and NW of Mongolia are characterized dominantly by strike-slip movements. Analysis of stress-axis orientations, the tectonic stress tensor is presented. The map of focal mechanisms of earthquakes in Mongolia could be useful tool for researchers in their study on Geodynamics of Central Asia, particularly of Mongolian and Baikal regions.

The Temblor mobile seismic risk app, v2: Rapid and seamless earthquake information to inspire individuals to recognize and reduce their risk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stein, R. S.; Sevilgen, V.; Sevilgen, S.; Kim, A.; Jacobson, D. S.; Lotto, G. C.; Ely, G.; Bhattacharjee, G.; O'Sullivan, J.

2017-12-01

Temblor quantifies and personalizes earthquake risk and offers solutions by connecting users with qualified retrofit and insurance providers. Temblor's daily blog on current earthquakes, seismic swarms, eruptions, floods, and landslides makes the science accessible to the public. Temblor is available on iPhone, Android, and mobile web app platforms (http://temblor.net). The app presents both scenario (worst case) and probabilistic (most likely) financial losses for homes and commercial buildings, and estimates the impact of seismic retrofit and insurance on the losses and safety. Temblor's map interface has clickable earthquakes (with source parameters and links) and active faults (name, type, and slip rate) around the world, and layers for liquefaction, landslides, tsunami inundation, and flood zones in the U.S. The app draws from the 2014 USGS National Seismic Hazard Model and the 2014 USGS Building Seismic Safety Council ShakeMap scenari0 database. The Global Earthquake Activity Rate (GEAR) model is used worldwide, with active faults displayed in 75 countries. The Temblor real-time global catalog is merged from global and national catalogs, with aftershocks discriminated from mainshocks. Earthquake notifications are issued to Temblor users within 30 seconds of their occurrence, with approximate locations and magnitudes that are rapidly refined in the ensuing minutes. Launched in 2015, Temblor has 650,000 unique users, including 250,000 in the U.S. and 110,000 in Chile, as well as 52,000 Facebook followers. All data shown in Temblor is gathered from authoritative or published sources and is synthesized to be intuitive and actionable to the public. Principal data sources include USGS, FEMA, EMSC, GEM Foundation, NOAA, GNS Science (New Zealand), INGV (Italy), PHIVOLCS (Philippines), GSJ (Japan), Taiwan Earthquake Model, EOS Singapore (Southeast Asia), MTA (Turkey), PB2003 (plate boundaries), CICESE (Baja California), California Geological Survey, and 20 other state

Assessing the Utility of and Improving USGS Earthquake Hazards Program Products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gomberg, J. S.; Scott, M.; Weaver, C. S.; Sherrod, B. L.; Bailey, D.; Gibbons, D.

2010-12-01

A major focus of the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program (EHP) has been the development and implementation of products and information meant to improve earthquake hazard assessment, mitigation and response for a myriad of users. Many of these products rely on the data and efforts of the EHP and its partner scientists who are building the Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS). We report on a project meant to assess the utility of many of these products and information, conducted collaboratively by EHP scientists and Pierce County Department of Emergency Management staff. We have conducted focus group listening sessions with members of the engineering, business, medical, media, risk management, and emergency response communities as well as participated in the planning and implementation of earthquake exercises in the Pacific Northwest. Thus far we have learned that EHP and ANSS products satisfy many of the needs of engineers and some planners, and information is widely used by media and the general public. However, some important communities do not use these products despite their intended application for their purposes, particularly county and local emergency management and business communities. We have learned that products need to convey more clearly the impact of earthquakes, in everyday terms. Users also want products (e.g. maps, forecasts, etc.) that can be incorporated into tools and systems they use regularly. Rather than simply building products and posting them on websites, products need to be actively marketed and training provided. We suggest that engaging users prior to and during product development will enhance their usage and effectiveness.

CISN Display - Reliable Delivery of Real-time Earthquake Information, Including Rapid Notification and ShakeMap to Critical End Users

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rico, H.; Hauksson, E.; Thomas, E.; Friberg, P.; Given, D.

2002-12-01

The California Integrated Seismic Network (CISN) Display is part of a Web-enabled earthquake notification system alerting users in near real-time of seismicity, and also valuable geophysical information following a large earthquake. It will replace the Caltech/USGS Broadcast of Earthquakes (CUBE) and Rapid Earthquake Data Integration (REDI) Display as the principal means of delivering graphical earthquake information to users at emergency operations centers, and other organizations. Features distinguishing the CISN Display from other GUI tools are a state-full client/server relationship, a scalable message format supporting automated hyperlink creation, and a configurable platform-independent client with a GIS mapping tool; supporting the decision-making activities of critical users. The CISN Display is the front-end of a client/server architecture known as the QuakeWatch system. It is comprised of the CISN Display (and other potential clients), message queues, server, server "feeder" modules, and messaging middleware, schema and generators. It is written in Java, making it platform-independent, and offering the latest in Internet technologies. QuakeWatch's object-oriented design allows components to be easily upgraded through a well-defined set of application programming interfaces (APIs). Central to the CISN Display's role as a gateway to other earthquake products is its comprehensive XML-schema. The message model starts with the CUBE message format, but extends it by provisioning additional attributes for currently available products, and those yet to be considered. The supporting metadata in the XML-message provides the data necessary for the client to create a hyperlink and associate it with a unique event ID. Earthquake products deliverable to the CISN Display are ShakeMap, Ground Displacement, Focal Mechanisms, Rapid Notifications, OES Reports, and Earthquake Commentaries. Leveraging the power of the XML-format, the CISN Display provides prompt access to

Scoring annual earthquake predictions in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhuang, Jiancang; Jiang, Changsheng

2012-02-01

The Annual Consultation Meeting on Earthquake Tendency in China is held by the China Earthquake Administration (CEA) in order to provide one-year earthquake predictions over most China. In these predictions, regions of concern are denoted together with the corresponding magnitude range of the largest earthquake expected during the next year. Evaluating the performance of these earthquake predictions is rather difficult, especially for regions that are of no concern, because they are made on arbitrary regions with flexible magnitude ranges. In the present study, the gambling score is used to evaluate the performance of these earthquake predictions. Based on a reference model, this scoring method rewards successful predictions and penalizes failures according to the risk (probability of being failure) that the predictors have taken. Using the Poisson model, which is spatially inhomogeneous and temporally stationary, with the Gutenberg-Richter law for earthquake magnitudes as the reference model, we evaluate the CEA predictions based on 1) a partial score for evaluating whether issuing the alarmed regions is based on information that differs from the reference model (knowledge of average seismicity level) and 2) a complete score that evaluates whether the overall performance of the prediction is better than the reference model. The predictions made by the Annual Consultation Meetings on Earthquake Tendency from 1990 to 2003 are found to include significant precursory information, but the overall performance is close to that of the reference model.

Study on Earthquake Emergency Evacuation Drill Trainer Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

ChangJiang, L.

2016-12-01

With the improvement of China's urbanization, to ensure people survive the earthquake needs scientific routine emergency evacuation drills. Drawing on cellular automaton, shortest path algorithm and collision avoidance, we designed a model of earthquake emergency evacuation drill for school scenes. Based on this model, we made simulation software for earthquake emergency evacuation drill. The software is able to perform the simulation of earthquake emergency evacuation drill by building spatial structural model and selecting the information of people's location grounds on actual conditions of constructions. Based on the data of simulation, we can operate drilling in the same building. RFID technology could be used here for drill data collection which read personal information and send it to the evacuation simulation software via WIFI. Then the simulation software would contrast simulative data with the information of actual evacuation process, such as evacuation time, evacuation path, congestion nodes and so on. In the end, it would provide a contrastive analysis report to report assessment result and optimum proposal. We hope the earthquake emergency evacuation drill software and trainer can provide overall process disposal concept for earthquake emergency evacuation drill in assembly occupancies. The trainer can make the earthquake emergency evacuation more orderly, efficient, reasonable and scientific to fulfill the increase in coping capacity of urban hazard.

Operational Earthquake Forecasting: Proposed Guidelines for Implementation (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jordan, T. H.

2010-12-01

The goal of operational earthquake forecasting (OEF) is to provide the public with authoritative information about how seismic hazards are changing with time. During periods of high seismic activity, short-term earthquake forecasts based on empirical statistical models can attain nominal probability gains in excess of 100 relative to the long-term forecasts used in probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA). Prospective experiments are underway by the Collaboratory for the Study of Earthquake Predictability (CSEP) to evaluate the reliability and skill of these seismicity-based forecasts in a variety of tectonic environments. How such information should be used for civil protection is by no means clear, because even with hundredfold increases, the probabilities of large earthquakes typically remain small, rarely exceeding a few percent over forecasting intervals of days or weeks. Civil protection agencies have been understandably cautious in implementing formal procedures for OEF in this sort of “low-probability environment.” Nevertheless, the need to move more quickly towards OEF has been underscored by recent experiences, such as the 2009 L’Aquila earthquake sequence and other seismic crises in which an anxious public has been confused by informal, inconsistent earthquake forecasts. Whether scientists like it or not, rising public expectations for real-time information, accelerated by the use of social media, will require civil protection agencies to develop sources of authoritative information about the short-term earthquake probabilities. In this presentation, I will discuss guidelines for the implementation of OEF informed by my experience on the California Earthquake Prediction Evaluation Council, convened by CalEMA, and the International Commission on Earthquake Forecasting, convened by the Italian government following the L’Aquila disaster. (a) Public sources of information on short-term probabilities should be authoritative, scientific, open, and

Japanese earthquake predictability experiment with multiple runs before and after the 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hirata, N.; Tsuruoka, H.; Yokoi, S.

2011-12-01

The current Japanese national earthquake prediction program emphasizes the importance of modeling as well as monitoring for a sound scientific development of earthquake prediction research. One major focus of the current program is to move toward creating testable earthquake forecast models. For this purpose, in 2009 we joined the Collaboratory for the Study of Earthquake Predictability (CSEP) and installed, through an international collaboration, the CSEP Testing Centre, an infrastructure to encourage researchers to develop testable models for Japan. We started Japanese earthquake predictability experiment on November 1, 2009. The experiment consists of 12 categories, with 4 testing classes with different time spans (1 day, 3 months, 1 year and 3 years) and 3 testing regions called 'All Japan,' 'Mainland,' and 'Kanto.' A total of 160 models, as of August 2013, were submitted, and are currently under the CSEP official suite of tests for evaluating the performance of forecasts. We will present results of prospective forecast and testing for periods before and after the 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake. Because a seismic activity has changed dramatically since the 2011 event, performances of models have been affected very much. In addition, as there is the problem of authorized catalogue related to the completeness magnitude, most models did not pass the CSEP consistency tests. Also, we will discuss the retrospective earthquake forecast experiments for aftershocks of the 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake. Our aim is to describe what has turned out to be the first occasion for setting up a research environment for rigorous earthquake forecasting in Japan.

Japanese earthquake predictability experiment with multiple runs before and after the 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hirata, N.; Tsuruoka, H.; Yokoi, S.

2013-12-01

The current Japanese national earthquake prediction program emphasizes the importance of modeling as well as monitoring for a sound scientific development of earthquake prediction research. One major focus of the current program is to move toward creating testable earthquake forecast models. For this purpose, in 2009 we joined the Collaboratory for the Study of Earthquake Predictability (CSEP) and installed, through an international collaboration, the CSEP Testing Centre, an infrastructure to encourage researchers to develop testable models for Japan. We started Japanese earthquake predictability experiment on November 1, 2009. The experiment consists of 12 categories, with 4 testing classes with different time spans (1 day, 3 months, 1 year and 3 years) and 3 testing regions called 'All Japan,' 'Mainland,' and 'Kanto.' A total of 160 models, as of August 2013, were submitted, and are currently under the CSEP official suite of tests for evaluating the performance of forecasts. We will present results of prospective forecast and testing for periods before and after the 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake. Because a seismic activity has changed dramatically since the 2011 event, performances of models have been affected very much. In addition, as there is the problem of authorized catalogue related to the completeness magnitude, most models did not pass the CSEP consistency tests. Also, we will discuss the retrospective earthquake forecast experiments for aftershocks of the 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake. Our aim is to describe what has turned out to be the first occasion for setting up a research environment for rigorous earthquake forecasting in Japan.

Tweeting Earthquakes using TensorFlow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Casarotti, E.; Comunello, F.; Magnoni, F.

2016-12-01

The use of social media is emerging as a powerful tool for disseminating trusted information about earthquakes. Since 2009, the Twitter account @INGVterremoti provides constant and timely details about M2+ seismic events detected by the Italian National Seismic Network, directly connected with the seismologists on duty at Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV). Currently, it updates more than 150,000 followers. Nevertheless, since it provides only the manual revision of seismic parameters, the timing (approximately between 10 and 20 minutes after an event) has started to be under evaluation. Undeniably, mobile internet, social network sites and Twitter in particular require a more rapid and "real-time" reaction. During the last 36 months, INGV tested the tweeting of the automatic detection of M3+ earthquakes, studying the reliability of the information both in term of seismological accuracy that from the point of view of communication and social research. A set of quality parameters (i.e. number of seismic stations, gap, relative error of the location) has been recognized to reduce false alarms and the uncertainty of the automatic detection. We present an experiment to further improve the reliability of this process using TensorFlow™ (an open source software library originally developed by researchers and engineers working on the Google Brain Team within Google's Machine Intelligence research organization).

On Earthquake Prediction in Japan

PubMed Central

UYEDA, Seiya

2013-01-01

Japan’s National Project for Earthquake Prediction has been conducted since 1965 without success. An earthquake prediction should be a short-term prediction based on observable physical phenomena or precursors. The main reason of no success is the failure to capture precursors. Most of the financial resources and manpower of the National Project have been devoted to strengthening the seismographs networks, which are not generally effective for detecting precursors since many of precursors are non-seismic. The precursor research has never been supported appropriately because the project has always been run by a group of seismologists who, in the present author’s view, are mainly interested in securing funds for seismology — on pretense of prediction. After the 1995 Kobe disaster, the project decided to give up short-term prediction and this decision has been further fortified by the 2011 M9 Tohoku Mega-quake. On top of the National Project, there are other government projects, not formally but vaguely related to earthquake prediction, that consume many orders of magnitude more funds. They are also un-interested in short-term prediction. Financially, they are giants and the National Project is a dwarf. Thus, in Japan now, there is practically no support for short-term prediction research. Recently, however, substantial progress has been made in real short-term prediction by scientists of diverse disciplines. Some promising signs are also arising even from cooperation with private sectors. PMID:24213204

Analysis of post-earthquake reconstruction for Wenchuan earthquake based on night-time light data from DMSP/OLS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Yang; Zhang, Jing; Yang, Mingxiang; Lei, Xiaohui

2017-07-01

At present, most of Defense Meteorological Satellite Program's Operational Linescan System (DMSP/OLS) night-time light data are applied to large-scale regional development assessment, while there are little for the study of earthquake and other disasters. This study has extracted night-time light information before and after earthquake within Wenchuan county with adoption of DMSP/OLS night-time light data. The analysis results show that the night-time light index and average intensity of Wenchuan county were decreased by about 76% and 50% respectively from the year of 2007 to 2008. From the year of 2008 to 2011, the two indicators were increased by about 200% and 556% respectively. These research results show that the night-time light data can be used to extract the information of earthquake and evaluate the occurrence of earthquakes and other disasters.

Gas injection may have triggered earthquakes in the Cogdell oil field, Texas

PubMed Central

Gan, Wei; Frohlich, Cliff

2013-01-01

Between 1957 and 1982, water flooding was conducted to improve petroleum production in the Cogdell oil field north of Snyder, TX, and a contemporary analysis concluded this induced earthquakes that occurred between 1975 and 1982. The National Earthquake Information Center detected no further activity between 1983 and 2005, but between 2006 and 2011 reported 18 earthquakes having magnitudes 3 and greater. To investigate these earthquakes, we analyzed data recorded by six temporary seismograph stations deployed by the USArray program, and identified 93 well-recorded earthquakes occurring between March 2009 and December 2010. Relocation with a double-difference method shows that most earthquakes occurred within several northeast–southwest-trending linear clusters, with trends corresponding to nodal planes of regional focal mechanisms, possibly indicating the presence of previously unidentified faults. We have evaluated data concerning injection and extraction of oil, water, and gas in the Cogdell field. Water injection cannot explain the 2006–2011 earthquakes, especially as net volumes (injection minus extraction) are significantly less than in the 1957–1982 period. However, since 2004 significant volumes of gases including supercritical CO2 have been injected into the Cogdell field. The timing of gas injection suggests it may have contributed to triggering the recent seismic activity. If so, this represents an instance where gas injection has triggered earthquakes having magnitudes 3 and larger. Further modeling studies may help evaluate recent assertions suggesting significant risks accompany large-scale carbon capture and storage as a strategy for managing climate change. PMID:24191019

Oregon Hazard Explorer for Lifelines Program (OHELP): A web-based geographic information system tool for assessing potential Cascadia earthquake hazard

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharifi Mood, M.; Olsen, M. J.; Gillins, D. T.; Javadnejad, F.

2016-12-01

The Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) has the ability to generate earthquake as powerful as 9 moment magnitude creating great amount of damage to structures and facilities in Oregon. Series of deterministic earthquake analysis are performed for M9.0, M8.7, M8.4 and M8.1 presenting persistent, long lasting shaking associated with other geological threats such as ground shaking, landslides, liquefaction-induced ground deformations, fault rupture vertical displacement, tsunamis, etc. These ground deformation endangers urban structures, foundations, bridges, roadways, pipelines and other lifelines. Lifeline providers in Oregon, including private and public practices responsible for transportation, electric and gas utilities, water and wastewater, fuel, airports, and harbors face an aging infrastructure that was built prior to a full understanding of this extreme seismic risk. As recently experienced in Chile and Japan, a three to five minutes long earthquake scenario, expected in Oregon, necessities a whole different method of risk mitigation for these major lifelines than those created for shorter shakings from crustal earthquakes. A web-based geographic information system tool is developed to fully assess the potential hazard from the multiple threats impending from Cascadia subduction zone earthquakes in the region. The purpose of this website is to provide easy access to the latest and best available hazard information over the web, including work completed in the recent Oregon Resilience Plan (ORP) (OSSPAC, 2013) and other work completed by the Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS). As a result, this tool is designated for engineers, planners, geologists, and others who need this information to help make appropriate decisions despite the fact that this web-GIS tool only needs minimal knowledge of GIS to work with.

Earthquake Catalogue of the Caucasus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Godoladze, T.; Gok, R.; Tvaradze, N.; Tumanova, N.; Gunia, I.; Onur, T.

2016-12-01

The Caucasus has a documented historical catalog stretching back to the beginning of the Christian era. Most of the largest historical earthquakes prior to the 19th century are assumed to have occurred on active faults of the Greater Caucasus. Important earthquakes include the Samtskhe earthquake of 1283 (Ms˜7.0, Io=9); Lechkhumi-Svaneti earthquake of 1350 (Ms˜7.0, Io=9); and the Alaverdi earthquake of 1742 (Ms˜6.8, Io=9). Two significant historical earthquakes that may have occurred within the Javakheti plateau in the Lesser Caucasus are the Tmogvi earthquake of 1088 (Ms˜6.5, Io=9) and the Akhalkalaki earthquake of 1899 (Ms˜6.3, Io =8-9). Large earthquakes that occurred in the Caucasus within the period of instrumental observation are: Gori 1920; Tabatskuri 1940; Chkhalta 1963; Racha earthquake of 1991 (Ms=7.0), is the largest event ever recorded in the region; Barisakho earthquake of 1992 (M=6.5); Spitak earthquake of 1988 (Ms=6.9, 100 km south of Tbilisi), which killed over 50,000 people in Armenia. Recently, permanent broadband stations have been deployed across the region as part of the various national networks (Georgia (˜25 stations), Azerbaijan (˜35 stations), Armenia (˜14 stations)). The data from the last 10 years of observation provides an opportunity to perform modern, fundamental scientific investigations. In order to improve seismic data quality a catalog of all instrumentally recorded earthquakes has been compiled by the IES (Institute of Earth Sciences/NSMC, Ilia State University) in the framework of regional joint project (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, USA) "Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Assessment (PSHA) in the Caucasus. The catalogue consists of more then 80,000 events. First arrivals of each earthquake of Mw>=4.0 have been carefully examined. To reduce calculation errors, we corrected arrivals from the seismic records. We improved locations of the events and recalculate Moment magnitudes in order to obtain unified magnitude

2008 United States National Seismic Hazard Maps

USGS Publications Warehouse

Petersen, M.D.; ,

2008-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey recently updated the National Seismic Hazard Maps by incorporating new seismic, geologic, and geodetic information on earthquake rates and associated ground shaking. The 2008 versions supersede those released in 1996 and 2002. These maps are the basis for seismic design provisions of building codes, insurance rate structures, earthquake loss studies, retrofit priorities, and land-use planning. Their use in design of buildings, bridges, highways, and critical infrastructure allows structures to better withstand earthquake shaking, saving lives and reducing disruption to critical activities following a damaging event. The maps also help engineers avoid costs from over-design for unlikely levels of ground motion.

Combining multiple earthquake models in real time for earthquake early warning

USGS Publications Warehouse

Minson, Sarah E.; Wu, Stephen; Beck, James L; Heaton, Thomas H.

2017-01-01

The ultimate goal of earthquake early warning (EEW) is to provide local shaking information to users before the strong shaking from an earthquake reaches their location. This is accomplished by operating one or more real‐time analyses that attempt to predict shaking intensity, often by estimating the earthquake’s location and magnitude and then predicting the ground motion from that point source. Other EEW algorithms use finite rupture models or may directly estimate ground motion without first solving for an earthquake source. EEW performance could be improved if the information from these diverse and independent prediction models could be combined into one unified, ground‐motion prediction. In this article, we set the forecast shaking at each location as the common ground to combine all these predictions and introduce a Bayesian approach to creating better ground‐motion predictions. We also describe how this methodology could be used to build a new generation of EEW systems that provide optimal decisions customized for each user based on the user’s individual false‐alarm tolerance and the time necessary for that user to react.

Investigation of Earthquake and Geyser Events in the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park from a Nodal Array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garcia, S.; Karplus, M. S.; Farrell, J.; Lin, F. C.; Smith, R. B.

2017-12-01

A large seismic nodal array incorporating 133 three-component, 5-Hz geophones deployed for two weeks in early November 2015 in the Upper Geyser Basin recorded earthquake and hydrothermal activity. The University of Utah, the University of Texas at El Paso, and Yellowstone National Park collaborated to deploy Fairfield Nodal ZLand 3-C geophones concentrically centered around the Old Faithful Geyser with an average station spacing of 50 m and an aperture of 1 km. The array provided a unique dataset to investigate wave propagation through various fractures and active geysers in a hydrothermal field located over the Yellowstone hotspot. The complicated sub-surface features associated with the hydrothermal field appear to impact earthquake wave propagation in the Upper Geyser Basin and to generate seismic signals. Previous work using ambient noise cross-correlation has found an intricately fractured sub-surface that provides pathways for water beneath parts of the Upper Geyser Basin that likely feed Old Faithful and other nearby geysers and hot springs. For this study, we used the data to create visualizations of local earthquake, teleseismic earthquake, and hydrothermal events as they propagate through the array. These ground motion visualizations allow observation of wave propagation through the geyser field, which may indicate the presence of anomalous structure impacting seismic velocities and attenuation. Three teleseismic events were observed in the data, two 6.9MW earthquakes that occurred off the coast of Coquimbo, Colombia 9,000km from the array and one 6.5MW near the Aleutian Islands 4,500km from the array. All three teleseismic events observed in the data exhibited strong direct P-wave arrivals and several additional phases. One local earthquake event (2.5ML) 100km from the Upper Geyser Basin was also well-recorded by the array. Time-domain spectrograms show the dominant frequencies present in the recordings of these events. The two 6.9MW earthquakes in Chile

Early Earthquakes of the Americas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ni, James

2004-11-01

Robert Kovach's second book looks at the interplay of earthquake and volcanic events, archeology, and history in the Americas. Throughout history, major earthquakes have caused the deaths of millions of people and have damaged countless cities. Earthquakes undoubtedly damaged prehistoric cities in the Americas, and evidence of these events could be preserved in archeological records. Kovach asks, Did indigenous native cultures-Indians of the Pacific Northwest, Aztecs, Mayas, and Incas-document their natural history? Some events have been explicitly documented, for example, in Mayan codices, but many may have been recorded as myth and legend. Kovach's discussions of how early cultures dealt with fearful events such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are colorful, informative, and entertaining, and include, for example, a depiction of how the Maya would talk to maize plants in their fields during earthquakes to reassure them.

Megathrust earthquakes in Central Chile: What is next after the Maule 2010 earthquake?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madariaga, R.

2013-05-01

The 27 February 2010 Maule earthquake occurred in a well identified gap in the Chilean subduction zone. The event has now been studied in detail using both far-field, near field seismic and geodetic data, we will review this information gathered so far. The event broke a region that was much longer along strike than the gap left over from the 1835 Concepcion earthquake, sometimes called the Darwin earthquake because he was in the area when the earthquake occurred and made many observations. Recent studies of contemporary documents by Udias et al indicate that the area broken by the Maule earthquake in 2010 had previously broken by a similar earthquake in 1751, but several events in the magnitude 8 range occurred in the area principally in 1835 already mentioned and, more recently on 1 December 1928 to the North and on 21 May 1960 (1 1/2 days before the big Chilean earthquake of 1960). Currently the area of the 2010 earthquake and the region immediately to the North is undergoing a very large increase in seismicity with numerous clusters of seismicity that move along the plate interface. Examination of the seismicity of Chile of the 18th and 19th century show that the region immediately to the North of the 2010 earthquake broke in a very large megathrust event in July 1730. this is the largest known earthquake in central Chile. The region where this event occurred has broken in many occasions with M 8 range earthquakes in 1822, 1880, 1906, 1971 and 1985. Is it preparing for a new very large megathrust event? The 1906 earthquake of Mw 8.3 filled the central part of the gap but it has broken again on several occasions in 1971, 1973 and 1985. The main question is whether the 1906 earthquake relieved enough stresses from the 1730 rupture zone. Geodetic data shows that most of the region that broke in 1730 is currently almost fully locked from the northern end of the Maule earthquake at 34.5°S to 30°S, near the southern end of the of the Mw 8.5 Atacama earthquake of 11

78 FR 64973 - National Earthquake Prediction Evaluation Council (NEPEC)

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-10-30

... updates on past topics of discussion, including work with social and behavioral scientists on improving... probabilities; USGS collaborative work with the Collaboratory for Study of Earthquake Predictability (CSEP...

A note on evaluating VAN earthquake predictions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tselentis, G.-Akis; Melis, Nicos S.

The evaluation of the success level of an earthquake prediction method should not be based on approaches that apply generalized strict statistical laws and avoid the specific nature of the earthquake phenomenon. Fault rupture processes cannot be compared to gambling processes. The outcome of the present note is that even an ideal earthquake prediction method is still shown to be a matter of a “chancy” association between precursors and earthquakes if we apply the same procedure proposed by Mulargia and Gasperini [1992] in evaluating VAN earthquake predictions. Each individual VAN prediction has to be evaluated separately, taking always into account the specific circumstances and information available. The success level of epicenter prediction should depend on the earthquake magnitude, and magnitude and time predictions may depend on earthquake clustering and the tectonic regime respectively.

Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER): A System for Rapidly Determining the Impact of Earthquakes Worldwide

USGS Publications Warehouse

Earle, Paul S.; Wald, David J.; Jaiswal, Kishor S.; Allen, Trevor I.; Hearne, Michael G.; Marano, Kristin D.; Hotovec, Alicia J.; Fee, Jeremy

2009-01-01

Within minutes of a significant earthquake anywhere on the globe, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) system assesses its potential societal impact. PAGER automatically estimates the number of people exposed to severe ground shaking and the shaking intensity at affected cities. Accompanying maps of the epicentral region show the population distribution and estimated ground-shaking intensity. A regionally specific comment describes the inferred vulnerability of the regional building inventory and, when available, lists recent nearby earthquakes and their effects. PAGER's results are posted on the USGS Earthquake Program Web site (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/), consolidated in a concise one-page report, and sent in near real-time to emergency responders, government agencies, and the media. Both rapid and accurate results are obtained through manual and automatic updates of PAGER's content in the hours following significant earthquakes. These updates incorporate the most recent estimates of earthquake location, magnitude, faulting geometry, and first-hand accounts of shaking. PAGER relies on a rich set of earthquake analysis and assessment tools operated by the USGS and contributing Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS) regional networks. A focused research effort is underway to extend PAGER's near real-time capabilities beyond population exposure to quantitative estimates of fatalities, injuries, and displaced population.

The Virtual Quake Earthquake Simulator: Earthquake Probability Statistics for the El Mayor-Cucapah Region and Evidence of Predictability in Simulated Earthquake Sequences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schultz, K.; Yoder, M. R.; Heien, E. M.; Rundle, J. B.; Turcotte, D. L.; Parker, J. W.; Donnellan, A.

2015-12-01

We introduce a framework for developing earthquake forecasts using Virtual Quake (VQ), the generalized successor to the perhaps better known Virtual California (VC) earthquake simulator. We discuss the basic merits and mechanics of the simulator, and we present several statistics of interest for earthquake forecasting. We also show that, though the system as a whole (in aggregate) behaves quite randomly, (simulated) earthquake sequences limited to specific fault sections exhibit measurable predictability in the form of increasing seismicity precursory to large m > 7 earthquakes. In order to quantify this, we develop an alert based forecasting metric similar to those presented in Keilis-Borok (2002); Molchan (1997), and show that it exhibits significant information gain compared to random forecasts. We also discuss the long standing question of activation vs quiescent type earthquake triggering. We show that VQ exhibits both behaviors separately for independent fault sections; some fault sections exhibit activation type triggering, while others are better characterized by quiescent type triggering. We discuss these aspects of VQ specifically with respect to faults in the Salton Basin and near the El Mayor-Cucapah region in southern California USA and northern Baja California Norte, Mexico.

From a physical approach to earthquake prediction, towards long and short term warnings ahead of large earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stefansson, R.; Bonafede, M.

2012-04-01

For 20 years the South Iceland Seismic Zone (SISZ) was a test site for multinational earthquake prediction research, partly bridging the gap between laboratory tests samples, and the huge transform zones of the Earth. The approach was to explore the physics of processes leading up to large earthquakes. The book Advances in Earthquake Prediction, Research and Risk Mitigation, by R. Stefansson (2011), published by Springer/PRAXIS, and an article in the August issue of the BSSA by Stefansson, M. Bonafede and G. Gudmundsson (2011) contain a good overview of the findings, and more references, as well as examples of partially successful long and short term warnings based on such an approach. Significant findings are: Earthquakes that occurred hundreds of years ago left scars in the crust, expressed in volumes of heterogeneity that demonstrate the size of their faults. Rheology and stress heterogeneity within these volumes are significantly variable in time and space. Crustal processes in and near such faults may be observed by microearthquake information decades before the sudden onset of a new large earthquake. High pressure fluids of mantle origin may in response to strain, especially near plate boundaries, migrate upward into the brittle/elastic crust to play a significant role in modifying crustal conditions on a long and short term. Preparatory processes of various earthquakes can not be expected to be the same. We learn about an impending earthquake by observing long term preparatory processes at the fault, finding a constitutive relationship that governs the processes, and then extrapolating that relationship into near space and future. This is a deterministic approach in earthquake prediction research. Such extrapolations contain many uncertainties. However the long time pattern of observations of the pre-earthquake fault process will help us to put probability constraints on our extrapolations and our warnings. The approach described is different from the usual

An interdisciplinary approach for earthquake modelling and forecasting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, P.; Zhuang, J.; Hattori, K.; Ogata, Y.

2016-12-01

Earthquake is one of the most serious disasters, which may cause heavy casualties and economic losses. Especially in the past two decades, huge/mega earthquakes have hit many countries. Effective earthquake forecasting (including time, location, and magnitude) becomes extremely important and urgent. To date, various heuristically derived algorithms have been developed for forecasting earthquakes. Generally, they can be classified into two types: catalog-based approaches and non-catalog-based approaches. Thanks to the rapid development of statistical seismology in the past 30 years, now we are able to evaluate the performances of these earthquake forecast approaches quantitatively. Although a certain amount of precursory information is available in both earthquake catalogs and non-catalog observations, the earthquake forecast is still far from satisfactory. In most case, the precursory phenomena were studied individually. An earthquake model that combines self-exciting and mutually exciting elements was developed by Ogata and Utsu from the Hawkes process. The core idea of this combined model is that the status of the event at present is controlled by the event itself (self-exciting) and all the external factors (mutually exciting) in the past. In essence, the conditional intensity function is a time-varying Poisson process with rate λ(t), which is composed of the background rate, the self-exciting term (the information from past seismic events), and the external excitation term (the information from past non-seismic observations). This model shows us a way to integrate the catalog-based forecast and non-catalog-based forecast. Against this background, we are trying to develop a new earthquake forecast model which combines catalog-based and non-catalog-based approaches.

a Collaborative Cyberinfrastructure for Earthquake Seismology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bossu, R.; Roussel, F.; Mazet-Roux, G.; Lefebvre, S.; Steed, R.

2013-12-01

One of the challenges in real time seismology is the prediction of earthquake's impact. It is particularly true for moderate earthquake (around magnitude 6) located close to urbanised areas, where the slightest uncertainty in event location, depth, magnitude estimates, and/or misevaluation of propagation characteristics, site effects and buildings vulnerability can dramatically change impact scenario. The Euro-Med Seismological Centre (EMSC) has developed a cyberinfrastructure to collect observations from eyewitnesses in order to provide in-situ constraints on actual damages. This cyberinfrastructure takes benefit of the natural convergence of earthquake's eyewitnesses on EMSC website (www.emsc-csem.org), the second global earthquake information website within tens of seconds of the occurrence of a felt event. It includes classical crowdsourcing tools such as online questionnaires available in 39 languages, and tools to collect geolocated pics. It also comprises information derived from the real time analysis of the traffic on EMSC website, a method named flashsourcing; In case of a felt earthquake, eyewitnesses reach EMSC website within tens of seconds to find out the cause of the shaking they have just been through. By analysing their geographical origin through their IP address, we automatically detect felt earthquakes and in some cases map the damaged areas through the loss of Internet visitors. We recently implemented a Quake Catcher Network (QCN) server in collaboration with Stanford University and the USGS, to collect ground motion records performed by volunteers and are also involved in a project to detect earthquakes from ground motions sensors from smartphones. Strategies have been developed for several social media (Facebook, Twitter...) not only to distribute earthquake information, but also to engage with the Citizens and optimise data collection. A smartphone application is currently under development. We will present an overview of this

The 3 December 1828 moderate earthquake at the border between Belgium and Germany

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Knuts, Elisabeth; Camelbeeck, Thierry; Alexandre, Pierre

2016-04-01

On 3 December 1828 at half past six in the evening, the border region between Belgium and Germany was stricken by a moderate earthquake. Up to now, the available information on this event has been essentially provided by a few contemporaneous scientific studies. To better evaluate its impact, location and magnitude, we have searched for new original historical reports. We collected 57 additional witness testimonies, which complete those previously collected about the earthquake effects. Among the testimonies, we also retrieved a questionnaire sent by the Prussian government to local authorities with the purpose of quickly obtaining information on the earthquake effects in the western part of the kingdom of Prussia. This inquiry is the oldest of its kind that has been discovered to date in this part of Europe, suggesting a rare concern by a national authority about the seismic hazard, and prefiguring the seismic inquiries that scientific institutions use today. The analysis of these new data made it possible to evaluate the intensity in 50 cities out of the 75 where the earthquake was observed. From these intensity data, we determine that the epicentre was in the Hautes-Fagnes region [lat. 50.38°N/long. 6.19°E ± 30 km] where moderate damage, corresponding to EMS-98 intensity VI-VII, was observed. At large distances, the earthquake was felt as far as Düsseldorf to the north, Brussels to the west, Metz to the south and Wiesbaden to the east. These distances correspond to a perceptibility radius of about 150 km. The magnitude of this earthquake is evaluated to be ML = 4.7 (-0.2/+0.5) and MW = 4.2 (+0.4/-0.2).

Limiting the effects of earthquakes on gravitational-wave interferometers

USGS Publications Warehouse

Coughlin, Michael; Earle, Paul; Harms, Jan; Biscans, Sebastien; Buchanan, Christopher; Coughlin, Eric; Donovan, Fred; Fee, Jeremy; Gabbard, Hunter; Guy, Michelle; Mukund, Nikhil; Perry, Matthew

2017-01-01

Ground-based gravitational wave interferometers such as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) are susceptible to ground shaking from high-magnitude teleseismic events, which can interrupt their operation in science mode and significantly reduce their duty cycle. It can take several hours for a detector to stabilize enough to return to its nominal state for scientific observations. The down time can be reduced if advance warning of impending shaking is received and the impact is suppressed in the isolation system with the goal of maintaining stable operation even at the expense of increased instrumental noise. Here, we describe an early warning system for modern gravitational-wave observatories. The system relies on near real-time earthquake alerts provided by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Preliminary low latency hypocenter and magnitude information is generally available in 5 to 20 min of a significant earthquake depending on its magnitude and location. The alerts are used to estimate arrival times and ground velocities at the gravitational-wave detectors. In general, 90% of the predictions for ground-motion amplitude are within a factor of 5 of measured values. The error in both arrival time and ground-motion prediction introduced by using preliminary, rather than final, hypocenter and magnitude information is minimal. By using a machine learning algorithm, we develop a prediction model that calculates the probability that a given earthquake will prevent a detector from taking data. Our initial results indicate that by using detector control configuration changes, we could prevent interruption of operation from 40 to 100 earthquake events in a 6-month time-period.

Limiting the effects of earthquakes on gravitational-wave interferometers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coughlin, Michael; Earle, Paul; Harms, Jan; Biscans, Sebastien; Buchanan, Christopher; Coughlin, Eric; Donovan, Fred; Fee, Jeremy; Gabbard, Hunter; Guy, Michelle; Mukund, Nikhil; Perry, Matthew

2017-02-01

Ground-based gravitational wave interferometers such as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) are susceptible to ground shaking from high-magnitude teleseismic events, which can interrupt their operation in science mode and significantly reduce their duty cycle. It can take several hours for a detector to stabilize enough to return to its nominal state for scientific observations. The down time can be reduced if advance warning of impending shaking is received and the impact is suppressed in the isolation system with the goal of maintaining stable operation even at the expense of increased instrumental noise. Here, we describe an early warning system for modern gravitational-wave observatories. The system relies on near real-time earthquake alerts provided by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Preliminary low latency hypocenter and magnitude information is generally available in 5 to 20 min of a significant earthquake depending on its magnitude and location. The alerts are used to estimate arrival times and ground velocities at the gravitational-wave detectors. In general, 90% of the predictions for ground-motion amplitude are within a factor of 5 of measured values. The error in both arrival time and ground-motion prediction introduced by using preliminary, rather than final, hypocenter and magnitude information is minimal. By using a machine learning algorithm, we develop a prediction model that calculates the probability that a given earthquake will prevent a detector from taking data. Our initial results indicate that by using detector control configuration changes, we could prevent interruption of operation from 40 to 100 earthquake events in a 6-month time-period.

Building a Communication, Education, an Outreach Program for the ShakeAlert National Earthquake Early Warning Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DeGroot, R. M.; Strauss, J. A.; Given, D. D.; Cochran, E. S.; Burkett, E. R.; Long, K.

2016-12-01

Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) systems can provide as much as tens of seconds of warning to people and automated systems before strong shaking arrives. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) and its partners are developing an EEW system for the West Coast of the United States. To be an integral part of successful implementation, EEW engagement programs and materials must integrate with and leverage broader earthquake risk programs. New methods and products for dissemination must be multidisciplinary, cost effective, and consistent with existing hazards education efforts. Our presentation outlines how the USGS and its partners will approach this effort in the context of the EEW system through the work of a multistate and multiagency committee that participates in the design, implementation, and evaluation of a portfolio of programs and products. This committee, referred to as the ShakeAlert Joint Committee for Communication, Education, and Outreach (ShakeAlert CEO), is working to identify, develop, and cultivate partnerships with EEW stakeholders including Federal, State, academic partners, private companies, policy makers, and local organizations. Efforts include developing materials, methods for delivery, and reaching stakeholders with information on EEW, earthquake preparedness, and emergency protective actions. It is essential to develop standards to ensure information communicated via the EEW alerts is consistent across the public and private sector and achieving a common understanding of what actions users take when they receive an EEW warning. The USGS and the participating states and agencies acknowledge that the implementation of EEW is a collective effort requiring the participation of hundreds of stakeholders committed to ensuring public accessibility.

Resilience of aging populations after devastating earthquake event and its determinants - A case study of the Chi-Chi earthquake in Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hung, Chih-Hsuan; Hung, Hung-Chih

2016-04-01

1.Background Major portions of urban areas in Asia are highly exposed and vulnerable to devastating earthquakes. Many studies identify ways to reduce earthquake risk by concentrating more on building resilience for the particularly vulnerable populations. By 2020, as the United Nations' warning, many Asian countries would become 'super-aged societies', such as Taiwan. However, local authorities rarely use resilience approach to frame earthquake disaster risk management and land use strategies. The empirically-based research about the resilience of aging populations has also received relatively little attention. Thus, a challenge arisen for decision-makers is how to enhance resilience of aging populations within the context of risk reduction. This study aims to improve the understanding of the resilience of aging populations and its changes over time in the aftermath of a destructive earthquake at the local level. A novel methodology is proposed to assess the resilience of aging populations and to characterize their changes of spatial distribution patterns, as well as to examine their determinants. 2.Methods and data An indicator-based assessment framework is constructed with the goal of identifying composite indicators (including before, during and after a disaster) that could serve as proxies for attributes of the resilience of aging populations. Using the recovery process of the Chi-Chi earthquake struck central Taiwan in 1999 as a case study, we applied a method combined a geographical information system (GIS)-based spatial statistics technique and cluster analysis to test the extent of which the resilience of aging populations is spatially autocorrelated throughout the central Taiwan, and to explain why clustering of resilient areas occurs in specific locations. Furthermore, to scrutinize the affecting factors of resilience, we develop an aging population resilience model (APRM) based on existing resilience theory. Using the APRM, we applied a multivariate

Earthquake damage orientation to infer seismic parameters in archaeological sites and historical earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martín-González, Fidel

2018-01-01

Studies to provide information concerning seismic parameters and seismic sources of historical and archaeological seismic events are used to better evaluate the seismic hazard of a region. This is of especial interest when no surface rupture is recorded or the seismogenic fault cannot be identified. The orientation pattern of the earthquake damage (ED) (e.g., fallen columns, dropped key stones) that affected architectonic elements of cities after earthquakes has been traditionally used in historical and archaeoseismological studies to infer seismic parameters. However, in the literature depending on the authors, the parameters that can be obtained are contradictory (it has been proposed: the epicenter location, the orientation of the P-waves, the orientation of the compressional strain and the fault kinematics) and authors even question these relations with the earthquake damage. The earthquakes of Lorca in 2011, Christchurch in 2011 and Emilia Romagna in 2012 present an opportunity to measure systematically a large number and wide variety of earthquake damage in historical buildings (the same structures that are used in historical and archaeological studies). The damage pattern orientation has been compared with modern instrumental data, which is not possible in historical and archaeoseismological studies. From measurements and quantification of the orientation patterns in the studied earthquakes, it is observed that there is a systematic pattern of the earthquake damage orientation (EDO) in the proximity of the seismic source (fault trace) (<10 km). The EDO in these earthquakes is normal to the fault trend (±15°). This orientation can be generated by a pulse of motion that in the near fault region has a distinguishable acceleration normal to the fault due to the polarization of the S-waves. Therefore, the earthquake damage orientation could be used to estimate the seismogenic fault trend of historical earthquakes studies where no instrumental data are available.

Earthquake prediction in Japan and natural time analysis of seismicity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uyeda, S.; Varotsos, P.

2011-12-01

M9 super-giant earthquake with huge tsunami devastated East Japan on 11 March, causing more than 20,000 casualties and serious damage of Fukushima nuclear plant. This earthquake was predicted neither short-term nor long-term. Seismologists were shocked because it was not even considered possible to happen at the East Japan subduction zone. However, it was not the only un-predicted earthquake. In fact, throughout several decades of the National Earthquake Prediction Project, not even a single earthquake was predicted. In reality, practically no effective research has been conducted for the most important short-term prediction. This happened because the Japanese National Project was devoted for construction of elaborate seismic networks, which was not the best way for short-term prediction. After the Kobe disaster, in order to parry the mounting criticism on their no success history, they defiantly changed their policy to "stop aiming at short-term prediction because it is impossible and concentrate resources on fundamental research", that meant to obtain "more funding for no prediction research". The public were and are not informed about this change. Obviously earthquake prediction would be possible only when reliable precursory phenomena are caught and we have insisted this would be done most likely through non-seismic means such as geochemical/hydrological and electromagnetic monitoring. Admittedly, the lack of convincing precursors for the M9 super-giant earthquake has adverse effect for us, although its epicenter was far out off shore of the range of operating monitoring systems. In this presentation, we show a new possibility of finding remarkable precursory signals, ironically, from ordinary seismological catalogs. In the frame of the new time domain termed natural time, an order parameter of seismicity, κ1, has been introduced. This is the variance of natural time kai weighted by normalised energy release at χ. In the case that Seismic Electric Signals

Differential energy radiation from two earthquakes in Japan with identical Mw: The Kyushu 1996 and Tottori 2000 earthquakes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Choy, G.L.; Boatwright, J.

2009-01-01

We examine two closely located earthquakes in Japan that had identical moment magnitudes Mw but significantly different energy magnitudes Me. We use teleseismic data from the Global Seismograph Network and strong-motion data from the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention's K-Net to analyze the 19 October 1996 Kyushu earthquake (Mw 6.7, Me 6.6) and the 6 October 2000 Tottori earthquake (Mw 6.7, Me 7.4). To obtain regional estimates of radiated energy ES we apply a spectral technique to regional (<200 km) waveforms that are dominated by S and Lg waves. For the thrust-fault Kyushu earthquake, we estimate an average regional attenuation Q(f) 230f0:65. For the strike-slip Tottori earthquake, the average regional attenuation is Q(f) 180f0:6. These attenuation functions are similar to those derived from studies of both California and Japan earthquakes. The regional estimate of ES for the Kyushu earthquake, 3:8 ?? 1014 J, is significantly smaller than that for the Tottori earthquake, ES 1:3 ?? 1015 J. These estimates correspond well with the teleseismic estimates of 3:9 ?? 1014 J and 1:8 ?? 1015 J, respectively. The apparent stress (Ta = ??Es/M0 with ?? equal to rigidity) for the Kyushu earthquake is 4 times smaller than the apparent stress for the Tottori earthquake. In terms of the fault maturity model, the significantly greater release of energy by the strike-slip Tottori earthquake can be related to strong deformation in an immature intraplate setting. The relatively lower energy release of the thrust-fault Kyushu earthquake can be related to rupture on mature faults at a subduction environment. The consistence between teleseismic and regional estimates of ES is particularly significant as teleseismic data for computing ES are routinely available for all large earthquakes whereas often there are no near-field data.

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Urban Earthquakes - Reducing Building Collapse Through Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bilham, R.

2004-12-01

Fatalities from earthquakes rose from 6000k to 9000k/year in the past decade, yet the ratio of numbers of earthquake fatalities to instantaneous population continues to fall. Since 1950 the ratio declined worldwide by a factor of three, but in some countries the ratio has changed little. E.g in Iran, 1 in 3000 people can expect to die in an earthquake, a percentage that has not changed significantly since 1890. Fatalities from earthquakes remain high in those countries that have traditionally suffered from frequent large earthquakes (Turkey, Iran, Japan, and China), suggesting that the exposure time of recently increased urban populations in other countries may be too short to have interacted with earthquakes with long recurrence intervals. This in turn, suggests that disasters of unprecendented size will occur (more than 1 million fatalities) when future large earthquakes occur close to megacities. However, population growth is most rapid in cities of less than 1 million people in the developing nations, where the financial ability to implement earthquake resistant construction methods is limited. In that structural collapse can often be traced to ignorance about the forces at work in an earthquake, the future collapse of buildings presently under construction could be much reduced were contractors, builders and occupants educated in the principles of earthquake resistant assembly. Education of builders who are tempted to cut assembly costs is likely to be more cost effective than material aid.

An investigation on seismo-ionospheric precursors in various earthquake zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Su, Y.; Liu, J. G.; Chen, M.

2011-12-01

Y. C. Su1, J. Y. Liu1 and M. Q. Chen1 1Institute of Space Science, National Central University, Chung-Li,Taiwan. This paper examines the relationships between the ionosphere and earthquakes occurring in different earthquake zones e.g. Malaysia area, Tibet plateau, mid-ocean ridge, Andes, etc., to reveal the possible seismo-ionospheric precursors for these area. Because the lithology, focal mechanism of earthquakes and electrodynamics in the ionosphere at different area are different, it is probable to have diverse ionospheric reactions before large earthquakes occurring in these areas. In addition to statistical analyses on increase or decrease anomalies of the ionospheric electron density few days before large earthquakes, we focus on the seismo-ionospheric precursors for oceanic and land earthquakes as well as for earthquakes with different focal mechanisms.

Lessons of L'Aquila for Operational Earthquake Forecasting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jordan, T. H.

2012-12-01

The L'Aquila earthquake of 6 Apr 2009 (magnitude 6.3) killed 309 people and left tens of thousands homeless. The mainshock was preceded by a vigorous seismic sequence that prompted informal earthquake predictions and evacuations. In an attempt to calm the population, the Italian Department of Civil Protection (DPC) convened its Commission on the Forecasting and Prevention of Major Risk (MRC) in L'Aquila on 31 March 2009 and issued statements about the hazard that were widely received as an "anti-alarm"; i.e., a deterministic prediction that there would not be a major earthquake. On October 23, 2012, a court in L'Aquila convicted the vice-director of DPC and six scientists and engineers who attended the MRC meeting on charges of criminal manslaughter, and it sentenced each to six years in prison. A few weeks after the L'Aquila disaster, the Italian government convened an International Commission on Earthquake Forecasting for Civil Protection (ICEF) with the mandate to assess the status of short-term forecasting methods and to recommend how they should be used in civil protection. The ICEF, which I chaired, issued its findings and recommendations on 2 Oct 2009 and published its final report, "Operational Earthquake Forecasting: Status of Knowledge and Guidelines for Implementation," in Aug 2011 (www.annalsofgeophysics.eu/index.php/annals/article/view/5350). As defined by the Commission, operational earthquake forecasting (OEF) involves two key activities: the continual updating of authoritative information about the future occurrence of potentially damaging earthquakes, and the officially sanctioned dissemination of this information to enhance earthquake preparedness in threatened communities. Among the main lessons of L'Aquila is the need to separate the role of science advisors, whose job is to provide objective information about natural hazards, from that of civil decision-makers who must weigh the benefits of protective actions against the costs of false alarms

Information technology developments within the national biological information infrastructure

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cotter, G.; Frame, M.T.

2000-01-01

Looking out an office window or exploring a community park, one can easily see the tremendous challenges that biological information presents the computer science community. Biological information varies in format and content depending whether or not it is information pertaining to a particular species (i.e. Brown Tree Snake), or a specific ecosystem, which often includes multiple species, land use characteristics, and geospatially referenced information. The complexity and uniqueness of each individual species or ecosystem do not easily lend themselves to today's computer science tools and applications. To address the challenges that the biological enterprise presents the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) (http://www.nbii.gov) was established in 1993. The NBII is designed to address these issues on a National scale within the United States, and through international partnerships abroad. This paper discusses current computer science efforts within the National Biological Information Infrastructure Program and future computer science research endeavors that are needed to address the ever-growing issues related to our Nation's biological concerns.

Limitation of the Predominant-Period Estimator for Earthquake Early Warning and the Initial Rupture of Earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamada, T.; Ide, S.

2007-12-01

Earthquake early warning is an important and challenging issue for the reduction of the seismic damage, especially for the mitigation of human suffering. One of the most important problems in earthquake early warning systems is how immediately we can estimate the final size of an earthquake after we observe the ground motion. It is relevant to the problem whether the initial rupture of an earthquake has some information associated with its final size. Nakamura (1988) developed the Urgent Earthquake Detection and Alarm System (UrEDAS). It calculates the predominant period of the P wave (τp) and estimates the magnitude of an earthquake immediately after the P wave arrival from the value of τpmax, or the maximum value of τp. The similar approach has been adapted by other earthquake alarm systems (e.g., Allen and Kanamori (2003)). To investigate the characteristic of the parameter τp and the effect of the length of the time window (TW) in the τpmax calculation, we analyze the high-frequency recordings of earthquakes at very close distances in the Mponeng mine in South Africa. We find that values of τpmax have upper and lower limits. For larger earthquakes whose source durations are longer than TW, the values of τpmax have an upper limit which depends on TW. On the other hand, the values for smaller earthquakes have a lower limit which is proportional to the sampling interval. For intermediate earthquakes, the values of τpmax are close to their typical source durations. These two limits and the slope for intermediate earthquakes yield an artificial final size dependence of τpmax in a wide size range. The parameter τpmax is useful for detecting large earthquakes and broadcasting earthquake early warnings. However, its dependence on the final size of earthquakes does not suggest that the earthquake rupture is deterministic. This is because τpmax does not always have a direct relation to the physical quantities of an earthquake.

Rapid Source Characterization of the 2011 Mw 9.0 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hayes, Gavin P.

2011-01-01

On March 11th, 2011, a moment magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck off the coast of northeast Honshu, Japan, generating what may well turn out to be the most costly natural disaster ever. In the hours following the event, the U.S. Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center led a rapid response to characterize the earthquake in terms of its location, size, faulting source, shaking and slip distributions, and population exposure, in order to place the disaster in a framework necessary for timely humanitarian response. As part of this effort, fast finite-fault inversions using globally distributed body- and surface-wave data were used to estimate the slip distribution of the earthquake rupture. Models generated within 7 hours of the earthquake origin time indicated that the event ruptured a fault up to 300 km long, roughly centered on the earthquake hypocenter, and involved peak slips of 20 m or more. Updates since this preliminary solution improve the details of this inversion solution and thus our understanding of the rupture process. However, significant observations such as the up-dip nature of rupture propagation and the along-strike length of faulting did not significantly change, demonstrating the usefulness of rapid source characterization for understanding the first order characteristics of major earthquakes.

The use of geologic and seismologic information to reduce earthquake Hazards in California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kockelman, W.J.; Campbell, C.C.

1984-01-01

Five examples illustrate how geologic and seismologic information can be used to reduce the effects of earthquakes Included are procedures for anticipating damage to critical facilities, preparing, adopting, or implementing seismic safety studies, plans, and programs, retrofitting highway bridges, regulating development in areas subject to fault-rupture, and strengthening or removing unreinforced masonry buildings. The collective effect of these procedures is to improve the public safety, health, and welfare of individuals and their communities. ?? 1984 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

Discussion of New Approaches to Medium-Short-Term Earthquake Forecast in Practice of The Earthquake Prediction in Yunnan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hong, F.

2017-12-01

After retrospection of years of practice of the earthquake prediction in Yunnan area, it is widely considered that the fixed-point earthquake precursory anomalies mainly reflect the field information. The increase of amplitude and number of precursory anomalies could help to determine the original time of earthquakes, however it is difficult to obtain the spatial relevance between earthquakes and precursory anomalies, thus we can hardly predict the spatial locations of earthquakes using precursory anomalies. The past practices have shown that the seismic activities are superior to the precursory anomalies in predicting earthquakes locations, resulting from the increased seismicity were observed before 80% M=6.0 earthquakes in Yunnan area. While the mobile geomagnetic anomalies are turned out to be helpful in predicting earthquakes locations in recent year, for instance, the forecasted earthquakes occurring time and area derived form the 1-year-scale geomagnetic anomalies before the M6.5 Ludian earthquake in 2014 are shorter and smaller than which derived from the seismicity enhancement region. According to the past works, the author believes that the medium-short-term earthquake forecast level, as well as objective understanding of the seismogenic mechanisms, could be substantially improved by the densely laying observation array and capturing the dynamic process of physical property changes in the enhancement region of medium to small earthquakes.

Continuing Megathrust Earthquake Potential in northern Chile after the 2014 Iquique Earthquake Sequence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hayes, G. P.; Herman, M. W.; Barnhart, W. D.; Furlong, K. P.; Riquelme, S.; Benz, H.; Bergman, E.; Barrientos, S. E.; Earle, P. S.; Samsonov, S. V.

2014-12-01

The seismic gap theory, which identifies regions of elevated hazard based on a lack of recent seismicity in comparison to other portions of a fault, has successfully explained past earthquakes and is useful for qualitatively describing where future large earthquakes might occur. A large earthquake had been expected in the subduction zone adjacent to northern Chile, which until recently had not ruptured in a megathrust earthquake since a M~8.8 event in 1877. On April 1 2014, a M 8.2 earthquake occurred within this northern Chile seismic gap, offshore of the city of Iquique; the size and spatial extent of the rupture indicate it was not the earthquake that had been anticipated. Here, we present a rapid assessment of the seismotectonics of the March-April 2014 seismic sequence offshore northern Chile, including analyses of earthquake (fore- and aftershock) relocations, moment tensors, finite fault models, moment deficit calculations, and cumulative Coulomb stress transfer calculations over the duration of the sequence. This ensemble of information allows us to place the current sequence within the context of historic seismicity in the region, and to assess areas of remaining and/or elevated hazard. Our results indicate that while accumulated strain has been released for a portion of the northern Chile seismic gap, significant sections have not ruptured in almost 150 years. These observations suggest that large-to-great sized megathrust earthquakes will occur north and south of the 2014 Iquique sequence sooner than might be expected had the 2014 events ruptured the entire seismic gap.

Earthquake Early Warning: User Education and Designing Effective Messages

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burkett, E. R.; Sellnow, D. D.; Jones, L.; Sellnow, T. L.

2014-12-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and partners are transitioning from test-user trials of a demonstration earthquake early warning system (ShakeAlert) to deciding and preparing how to implement the release of earthquake early warning information, alert messages, and products to the public and other stakeholders. An earthquake early warning system uses seismic station networks to rapidly gather information about an occurring earthquake and send notifications to user devices ahead of the arrival of potentially damaging ground shaking at their locations. Earthquake early warning alerts can thereby allow time for actions to protect lives and property before arrival of damaging shaking, if users are properly educated on how to use and react to such notifications. A collaboration team of risk communications researchers and earth scientists is researching the effectiveness of a chosen subset of potential earthquake early warning interface designs and messages, which could be displayed on a device such as a smartphone. Preliminary results indicate, for instance, that users prefer alerts that include 1) a map to relate their location to the earthquake and 2) instructions for what to do in response to the expected level of shaking. A number of important factors must be considered to design a message that will promote appropriate self-protective behavior. While users prefer to see a map, how much information can be processed in limited time? Are graphical representations of wavefronts helpful or confusing? The most important factor to promote a helpful response is the predicted earthquake intensity, or how strong the expected shaking will be at the user's location. Unlike Japanese users of early warning, few Californians are familiar with the earthquake intensity scale, so we are exploring how differentiating instructions between intensity levels (e.g., "Be aware" for lower shaking levels and "Drop, cover, hold on" at high levels) can be paired with self-directed supplemental

Proposal as to Efficient Collection and Exploitation of Earthquake Damage Information and Verification by Field Experiment at Toyohashi City

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zama, Shinsaku; Endo, Makoto; Takanashi, Ken'ichi; Araiba, Kiminori; Sekizawa, Ai; Hosokawa, Masafumi; Jeong, Byeong-Pyo; Hisada, Yoshiaki; Murakami, Masahiro

Based on the earlier study result that the gathering of damage information can be quickly achieved in a municipality with a smaller population, it is proposed that damage information is gathered and analyzed using an area roughly equivalent to a primary school district as a basic unit. The introduction of this type of decentralized system is expected to quickly gather important information on each area. The information gathered by these communal disaster prevention bases is sent to the disaster prevention headquarters which in turn feeds back more extensive information over a wider area to the communal disaster prevention bases. Concrete systems have been developed according to the above mentioned framework, and we performed large-scale experiments on simulating disaster information collection, transmission and on utilization for smooth responses against earthquake disaster with collaboration from Toyohashi City, Aichi Prefecture, where is considered to suffer extensive damage from the Tokai and Tonankai Earthquakes with very high probability of the occurrence. Using disaster information collection/transmission equipments composed of long-distance wireless LAN, a notebook computer, a Web camera and an IP telephone, city staffs could easily input and transmit the information such as fire, collapsed houses and impassable roads, which were collected by the inhabitants participated in the experiment. Headquarters could confirm such information on the map automatically plotted, and also state of each disaster-prevention facility by means of Web-cameras and IP telephones. Based on the damage information, fire-spreading, evaluation, and traffic simulations were automatically executed at the disaster countermeasure office and their results were displayed on the large screen to utilize for making decisions such as residents' evacuation. These simulated results were simultaneously displayed at each disaster-prevention facility and were served to make people understand the

Supercomputing meets seismology in earthquake exhibit

ScienceCinema

Blackwell, Matt; Rodger, Arthur; Kennedy, Tom

2018-02-14

When the California Academy of Sciences created the "Earthquake: Evidence of a Restless Planet" exhibit, they called on Lawrence Livermore to help combine seismic research with the latest data-driven visualization techniques. The outcome is a series of striking visualizations of earthquakes, tsunamis and tectonic plate evolution. Seismic-wave research is a core competency at Livermore. While most often associated with earthquakes, the research has many other applications of national interest, such as nuclear explosion monitoring, explosion forensics, energy exploration, and seismic acoustics. For the Academy effort, Livermore researchers simulated the San Andreas and Hayward fault events at high resolutions. Such calculations require significant computational resources. To simulate the 1906 earthquake, for instance, visualizing 125 seconds of ground motion required over 1 billion grid points, 10,000 time steps, and 7.5 hours of processor time on 2,048 cores of Livermore's Sierra machine.

Seismic hazard in the South Carolina coastal plain: 2002 update of the USGS national seismic hazard maps

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cramer, C.H.; Mays, T.W.; ,

2005-01-01

The damaging 1886 moment magnitude ???7 Charleston, South Carolina earthquake is indicative of the moderately likely earthquake activity along this portion of the Atlantic Coast. A recurrence of such an earthquake today would have serious consequences for the nation. The national seismic hazard maps produced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) provide a picture of the levels of seismic hazard across the nation based on the best and most current scientific information. The USGS national maps were updated in 2002 and will become part of the International Codes in 2006. In the past decade, improvements have occurred in the scientific understanding of the nature and character of earthquake activity and expected ground motions in the central and eastern U.S. The paper summarizes the new knowledge of expected earthquake locations, magnitudes, recurrence, and ground-motion decay with distance. New estimates of peak ground acceleration and 0.2 s and 1.0 s spectral acceleration are compared with those displayed in the 1996 national maps. The 2002 maps show increased seismic hazard in much of the coastal plain of South Carolina, but a decrease in long period (1 s and greater) hazard by up to 20% at distances of over 50 km from the Charleston earthquake zone. Although the national maps do not account for the effects of local or regional sediments, deep coastal-plain sediments can significally alter expected ground shaking, particularly at long period motions where it can be 100% higher than the national maps.

Prediction of earthquake-triggered landslide event sizes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Braun, Anika; Havenith, Hans-Balder; Schlögel, Romy

2016-04-01

Seismically induced landslides are a major environmental effect of earthquakes, which may significantly contribute to related losses. Moreover, in paleoseismology landslide event sizes are an important proxy for the estimation of the intensity and magnitude of past earthquakes and thus allowing us to improve seismic hazard assessment over longer terms. Not only earthquake intensity, but also factors such as the fault characteristics, topography, climatic conditions and the geological environment have a major impact on the intensity and spatial distribution of earthquake induced landslides. We present here a review of factors contributing to earthquake triggered slope failures based on an "event-by-event" classification approach. The objective of this analysis is to enable the short-term prediction of earthquake triggered landslide event sizes in terms of numbers and size of the affected area right after an earthquake event occurred. Five main factors, 'Intensity', 'Fault', 'Topographic energy', 'Climatic conditions' and 'Surface geology' were used to establish a relationship to the number and spatial extend of landslides triggered by an earthquake. The relative weight of these factors was extracted from published data for numerous past earthquakes; topographic inputs were checked in Google Earth and through geographic information systems. Based on well-documented recent earthquakes (e.g. Haiti 2010, Wenchuan 2008) and on older events for which reliable extensive information was available (e.g. Northridge 1994, Loma Prieta 1989, Guatemala 1976, Peru 1970) the combination and relative weight of the factors was calibrated. The calibrated factor combination was then applied to more than 20 earthquake events for which landslide distribution characteristics could be cross-checked. One of our main findings is that the 'Fault' factor, which is based on characteristics of the fault, the surface rupture and its location with respect to mountain areas, has the most important

Large earthquake rates from geologic, geodetic, and seismological perspectives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jackson, D. D.

2017-12-01

Earthquake rate and recurrence information comes primarily from geology, geodesy, and seismology. Geology gives the longest temporal perspective, but it reveals only surface deformation, relatable to earthquakes only with many assumptions. Geodesy is also limited to surface observations, but it detects evidence of the processes leading to earthquakes, again subject to important assumptions. Seismology reveals actual earthquakes, but its history is too short to capture important properties of very large ones. Unfortunately, the ranges of these observation types barely overlap, so that integrating them into a consistent picture adequate to infer future prospects requires a great deal of trust. Perhaps the most important boundary is the temporal one at the beginning of the instrumental seismic era, about a century ago. We have virtually no seismological or geodetic information on large earthquakes before then, and little geological information after. Virtually all-modern forecasts of large earthquakes assume some form of equivalence between tectonic- and seismic moment rates as functions of location, time, and magnitude threshold. That assumption links geology, geodesy, and seismology, but it invokes a host of other assumptions and incurs very significant uncertainties. Questions include temporal behavior of seismic and tectonic moment rates; shape of the earthquake magnitude distribution; upper magnitude limit; scaling between rupture length, width, and displacement; depth dependence of stress coupling; value of crustal rigidity; and relation between faults at depth and their surface fault traces, to name just a few. In this report I'll estimate the quantitative implications for estimating large earthquake rate. Global studies like the GEAR1 project suggest that surface deformation from geology and geodesy best show the geography of very large, rare earthquakes in the long term, while seismological observations of small earthquakes best forecasts moderate earthquakes

Earthquake Drill using the Earthquake Early Warning System at an Elementary School

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oki, Satoko; Yazaki, Yoshiaki; Koketsu, Kazuki

2010-05-01

Japan frequently suffers from many kinds of disasters such as earthquakes, typhoons, floods, volcanic eruptions, and landslides. On average, we lose about 120 people a year due to natural hazards in this decade. Above all, earthquakes are noteworthy, since it may kill thousands of people in a moment like in Kobe in 1995. People know that we may have "a big one" some day as long as we live on this land and that what to do; retrofit houses, appliance heavy furniture to walls, add latches to kitchen cabinets, and prepare emergency packs. Yet most of them do not take the action, and result in the loss of many lives. It is only the victims that learn something from the earthquake, and it has never become the lore of the nations. One of the most essential ways to reduce the damage is to educate the general public to be able to make the sound decision on what to do at the moment when an earthquake hits. This will require the knowledge of the backgrounds of the on-going phenomenon. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), therefore, offered for public subscription to choose several model areas to adopt scientific education to the local elementary schools. This presentation is the report of a year and half courses that we had at the model elementary school in Tokyo Metropolitan Area. The tectonic setting of this area is very complicated; there are the Pacific and Philippine Sea plates subducting beneath the North America and the Eurasia plates. The subduction of the Philippine Sea plate causes mega-thrust earthquakes such as the 1923 Kanto earthquake (M 7.9) making 105,000 fatalities. A magnitude 7 or greater earthquake beneath this area is recently evaluated to occur with a probability of 70 % in 30 years. This is of immediate concern for the devastating loss of life and property because the Tokyo urban region now has a population of 42 million and is the center of approximately 40 % of the nation's activities, which may cause great global

The fujairah united arab emirates (uae) (ml = 5.1) earthquake of march 11, 2002 a reminder for the immediate need to develop and implement a national hazard mitigation strategy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al-Homoud, A.

2003-04-01

the epicenter of the earthquake. Indeed, the March 11, 2002 and "aftershocks" scared the citizens of Masafi and surrounding regions and ignited the attention of the public and government to the subject matter of earthquake hazard, specialty this earthquake came one year after the near by Indian m = 6.5 destructive Earthquake. Indeed the recent m = 6.2 June 22 destructive earthquake too that hit north west Iran, has again reminded the UAE public and government with the need to take quick and concrete measures to dtake the necessary steps to mitigate any anticipated earthquake hazard. This study reflects in some details on the following aspects related to the region and vicinity: geological and tectonic setting, seismicity, earthquake activity data base and seismic hazard assessment. Moreover, it documents the following aspects of the March 11, 2002 earthquake: tectonic, seismological, instrumental seismic data, aftershocks, strong motion recordings and response spectral and local site effect analysis, geotechnical effects and structural observations in the region affected by the earthquake. The study identifies local site ground amplification effects and liquefaction hazard potential in some parts of the UAE. Moreover, the study reflects on the coverage of the incident in the media, public and government response, state of earthquake engineering practice in the construction industry in the UAE, and the national preparedness and public awareness issues. However, it is concluded for this event that the mild damages that occurred in Masafi region were due to poor quality of construction, and lack of underestimating of the design base shear. Practical recommendations are suggested for the authorities to avoid damages in newly constructed buildings and lifelines as a result of future stronger earthquakes, in addition to recommendations on a national strategy for earthquake hazard mitigation in the UAE, which is still missing. The recommendations include the development and

Earthquakes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walter, Edward J.

1977-01-01

Presents an analysis of the causes of earthquakes. Topics discussed include (1) geological and seismological factors that determine the effect of a particular earthquake on a given structure; (2) description of some large earthquakes such as the San Francisco quake; and (3) prediction of earthquakes. (HM)

Hazus® estimated annualized earthquake losses for the United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jaiswal, Kishor; Bausch, Doug; Rozelle, Jesse; Holub, John; McGowan, Sean

2017-01-01

Large earthquakes can cause social and economic disruption that can be unprecedented to any given community, and the full recovery from these impacts may or may not always be achievable. In the United States (U.S.), the 1994 M6.7 Northridge earthquake in California remains the third costliest disaster in U.S. history; and it was one of the most expensive disasters for the federal government. Internationally, earthquakes in the last decade alone have claimed tens of thousands of lives and caused hundreds of billions of dollars of economic impact throughout the globe (~90 billion U.S. dollars (USD) from 2008 M7.9 Wenchuan China, ~20 billion USD from 2010 M8.8 Maule earthquake in Chile, ~220 billion USD from 2011 M9.0 Tohoku Japan earthquake, ~25 billion USD from 2011 M6.3 Christchurch New Zealand, and ~22 billion USD from 2016 M7.0 Kumamoto Japan). Recent earthquakes show a pattern of steadily increasing damages and losses that are primarily due to three key factors: (1) significant growth in earthquake-prone urban areas, (2) vulnerability of the older building stock, including poorly engineered non-ductile concrete buildings, and (3) an increased interdependency in terms of supply and demand for the businesses that operate among different parts of the world. In the United States, earthquake risk continues to grow with increased exposure of population and development even though the earthquake hazard has remained relatively stable except for the regions of induced seismic activity. Understanding the seismic hazard requires studying earthquake characteristics and locales in which they occur, while understanding the risk requires an assessment of the potential damage from earthquake shaking to the built environment and to the welfare of people—especially in high-risk areas. Estimating the varying degree of earthquake risk throughout the United States is critical for informed decision-making on mitigation policies, priorities, strategies, and funding levels in the

People's perspectives and expectations on preparedness against earthquakes: Tehran case study.

PubMed

Jahangiri, Katayoun; Izadkhah, Yasamin Ostovar; Montazeri, Ali; Hosseinip, Mahmood

2010-06-01

Public education is one of the most important elements of earthquake preparedness. The present study identifies methods and appropriate strategies for public awareness and education on preparedness for earthquakes based on people's opinions in the city of Tehran. This was a cross-sectional study and a door-to-door survey of residents from 22 municipal districts in Tehran, the capital city of Iran. It involved a total of 1 211 individuals aged 15 and above. People were asked about different methods of public information and education, as well as the type of information needed for earthquake preparedness. "Enforcing the building contractors' compliance with the construction codes and regulations" was ranked as the first priority by 33.4% of the respondents. Over 70% of the participants (71.7%) regarded TV as the most appropriate means of media communication to prepare people for an earthquake. This was followed by "radio" which was selected by 51.6% of respondents. Slightly over 95% of the respondents believed that there would soon be an earthquake in the country, and 80% reported that they obtained this information from "the general public". Seventy percent of the study population felt that news of an earthquake should be communicated through the media. However, over fifty (58%) of the participants believed that governmental officials and agencies are best qualified to disseminate information about the risk of an imminent earthquake. Just over half (50.8%) of the respondents argued that the authorities do not usually provide enough information to people about earthquakes and the probability of their occurrence. Besides seismologists, respondents thought astronauts (32%), fortunetellers (32.3%), religious figures (34%), meteorologists (23%), and paleontologists (2%) can correctly predict the occurrence of an earthquake. Furthermore, 88.6% listed aid centers, mosques, newspapers and TV as the most important sources of information during the aftermath of an earthquake

@INGVterremoti: Tweeting the Automatic Detection of Earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Casarotti, E.; Amato, A.; Comunello, F.; Lauciani, V.; Nostro, C.; Polidoro, P.

2014-12-01

The use of social media is emerging as a powerful tool fordisseminating trusted information about earthquakes. Since 2009, theTwitter account @INGVterremoti provides constant and timely detailsabout M2+ seismic events detected by the Italian National SeismicNetwork, directly connected with the seismologists on duty at IstitutoNazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV). After the 2012 seismicsequence, the account has been awarded by a national prize as the"most useful Twitter account". Currently, it updates more than 110,000followers (one the first 50 Italian Twitter accounts for number offollowers). Nevertheless, since it provides only the manual revisionof seismic parameters, the timing (approximately between 10 and 20minutes after an event) has started to be under evaluation.Undeniably, mobile internet, social network sites and Twitter in particularrequire a more rapid and "real-time" reaction.During the last 18 months, INGV tested the tweeting of the automaticdetection of M3+ earthquakes, obtaining results reliable enough to bereleased openly 1 or 2 minutes after a seismic event. During the summerof 2014, INGV, with the collaboration of CORIS (Department ofCommunication and Social Research, Sapienza University of Rome),involved the followers of @INGVterremoti and citizens, carrying out aquali-quantitative study (through in-depth interviews and a websurvey) in order to evaluate the best format to deliver suchinformation. In this presentation we will illustrate the results of the reliability test and theanalysis of the survey.

The earthquake educational institute at San Francisco State University

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sullivan, R.; Pestrong, R.; Strongin, H.

1980-01-01

The Earthquake Educational Institute was established in 1978 at San Francisco State University under a grant from the U.S National Science Foundation. The goal of the Institute is to develop earthquake-related curricula for use in elementary and secondary schools in the hope that, by educating students about earthquakes, they will be better prepared for the disruptions associated with a major quake. To date, about 140 elementary and secondary school teachers and administrators have enrolled in the program. 

Radar Shows Italy Area Moved 8 Inches by Amatrice Earthquake

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-08-27

NASA and its partners are contributing observations and expertise to the ongoing response to the Aug. 23, 2016, magnitude 6.2 Amatrice earthquake in central Italy caused widespread building damage to several towns throughout the region. This earthquake was the strongest in that area since the 2009 earthquake that destroyed the city of L'Aquila. Scientists with the Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis project (ARIA), a collaboration between NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, and the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, analyzed interferometric synthetic aperture radar images from the PALSAR-2 instrument on the ALOS-2 satellite operated by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to calculate a map of the deformation of Earth's surface caused by the quake. This false-color map shows the amount of permanent surface movement, as viewed by the satellite, during a seven-month interval between two ALOS-2 images acquired on Sept. 9, 2015 and Aug. 24, 2016. The movement was caused almost entirely by the earthquake. In this map, the colors of the surface displacements are proportional to the surface motion. The red and pink tones show the areas where the land moved toward the satellite by up to 2 inches (5 centimeters). The area with various shades of blue moved away from the satellite, mostly downward, by as much as 8 inches (20 centimeters). Contours on the surface motion are 2 inches (5 centimeters) The green star shows the epicenter where the earthquake started as located by the U.S. Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center. Black dots show town locations. Scientists use these maps to build detailed models of the fault slip at depth and associated land movements to better understand the impact on future earthquake activity. The map shows the fault or faults that moved in the earthquake is about 14 miles (22 kilometers) long between Amatrice and Norcia and slopes to the west beneath the area that moved downward. The

Database of potential sources for earthquakes larger than magnitude 6 in Northern California

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

1996-01-01

The Northern California Earthquake Potential (NCEP) working group, composed of many contributors and reviewers in industry, academia and government, has pooled its collective expertise and knowledge of regional tectonics to identify potential sources of large earthquakes in northern California. We have created a map and database of active faults, both surficial and buried, that forms the basis for the northern California portion of the national map of probabilistic seismic hazard. The database contains 62 potential sources, including fault segments and areally distributed zones. The working group has integrated constraints from broadly based plate tectonic and VLBI models with local geologic slip rates, geodetic strain rate, and microseismicity. Our earthquake source database derives from a scientific consensus that accounts for conflict in the diverse data. Our preliminary product, as described in this report brings to light many gaps in the data, including a need for better information on the proportion of deformation in fault systems that is aseismic.

Land-Ocean-Atmospheric Coupling Associated with Earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prasad, A. K.; Singh, R. P.; Kumar, S.; Cervone, G.; Kafatos, M.; Zlotnicki, J.

2007-12-01

Earthquakes are well known to occur along the plate boundaries and also on the stable shield. The recent studies have shown existence of strong coupling between land-ocean-atmospheric parameters associated with the earthquakes. We have carried out detailed analysis of multi sensor data (optical and microwave remote) to show existence of strong coupling between land-ocean-atmospheric parameters associated with the earthquakes with focal depth up to 30 km and magnitude greater than 5.5. Complimentary nature of various land, ocean and atmospheric parameters will be demonstrated in getting an early warning information about an impending earthquake.

Earthquakes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pakiser, Louis C.

One of a series of general interest publications on science topics, the booklet provides those interested in earthquakes with an introduction to the subject. Following a section presenting an historical look at the world's major earthquakes, the booklet discusses earthquake-prone geographic areas, the nature and workings of earthquakes, earthquake…

Chapter B. The Loma Prieta, California, Earthquake of October 17, 1989 - Highway Systems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Yashinsky, Mark

1998-01-01

This paper summarizes the impact of the Loma Prieta earthquake on highway systems. City streets, urban freeways, county roads, state routes, and the national highway system were all affected. There was damage to bridges, roads, tunnels, and other highway structures. The most serious damage occurred in the cities of San Francisco and Oakland, 60 miles from the fault rupture. The cost to repair and replace highways damaged by this earthquake was $2 billion. About half of this cost was to replace the Cypress Viaduct, a long, elevated double-deck expressway that had a devastating collapse which resulted in 42 deaths and 108 injuries. The earthquake also resulted in some positive changes for highway systems. Research on bridges and earthquakes began to be funded at a much higher level. Retrofit programs were started to upgrade the seismic performance of the nation's highways. The Loma Prieta earthquake changed earthquake policy and engineering practice for highway departments not only in California, but all over the world.

Methodology to determine the parameters of historical earthquakes in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jian; Lin, Guoliang; Zhang, Zhe

2017-12-01

China is one of the countries with the longest cultural tradition. Meanwhile, China has been suffering very heavy earthquake disasters; so, there are abundant earthquake recordings. In this paper, we try to sketch out historical earthquake sources and research achievements in China. We will introduce some basic information about the collections of historical earthquake sources, establishing intensity scale and the editions of historical earthquake catalogues. Spatial-temporal and magnitude distributions of historical earthquake are analyzed briefly. Besides traditional methods, we also illustrate a new approach to amend the parameters of historical earthquakes or even identify candidate zones for large historical or palaeo-earthquakes. In the new method, a relationship between instrumentally recorded small earthquakes and strong historical earthquakes is built up. Abundant historical earthquake sources and the achievements of historical earthquake research in China are of valuable cultural heritage in the world.

76 FR 11821 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request Survey of Principal Investigators on Earthquake...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-03

...: Survey of Principal Investigators on Earthquake Engineering Research Awards Made by the National Science... survey of Principal Investigators on NSF earthquake engineering research awards, including but not... NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request Survey of Principal...

The next new Madrid earthquake

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Atkinson, W.

1988-01-01

Scientists who specialize in the study of Mississippi Valley earthquakes say that the region is overdue for a powerful tremor that will cause major damage and undoubtedly some casualties. The inevitability of a future quake and the lack of preparation by both individuals and communities provided the impetus for this book. It brings together applicable information from many disciplines: history, geology and seismology, engineering, zoology, politics and community planning, economics, environmental science, sociology, and psychology and mental health to provide a perspective of the myriad impacts of a major earthquake on the Mississippi Valley. The author addresses such basic questionsmore » as What, actually, are earthquakes How do they occur Can they be predicted, perhaps even prevented He also addresses those steps that individuals can take to improve their chances for survival both during and after an earthquake.« less

A century of induced earthquakes in Oklahoma?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hough, Susan E.; Page, Morgan T.

2015-01-01

Seismicity rates have increased sharply since 2009 in the central and eastern United States, with especially high rates of activity in the state of Oklahoma. Growing evidence indicates that many of these events are induced, primarily by injection of wastewater in deep disposal wells. The upsurge in activity has raised two questions: What is the background rate of tectonic earthquakes in Oklahoma? How much has the rate varied throughout historical and early instrumental times? In this article, we show that (1) seismicity rates since 2009 surpass previously observed rates throughout the twentieth century; (2) several lines of evidence suggest that most of the significant earthquakes in Oklahoma during the twentieth century were likely induced by oil production activities, as they exhibit statistically significant temporal and spatial correspondence with disposal wells, and intensity measurements for the 1952 El Reno earthquake and possibly the 1956 Tulsa County earthquake follow the pattern observed in other induced earthquakes; and (3) there is evidence for a low level of tectonic seismicity in southeastern Oklahoma associated with the Ouachita structural belt. The 22 October 1882 Choctaw Nation earthquake, for which we estimate Mw 4.8, occurred in this zone.

77 FR 64314 - Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-10-19

... is to discuss engineering needs for existing buildings, to review the National Earthquake Hazards... Committee business. The final agenda will be posted on the NEHRP Web site at http://nehrp.gov/ . DATES: The... assesses: Trends and developments in the science and engineering of earthquake hazards reduction; The...

Earth science: lasting earthquake legacy

USGS Publications Warehouse

Parsons, Thomas E.

2009-01-01

On 31 August 1886, a magnitude-7 shock struck Charleston, South Carolina; low-level activity continues there today. One view of seismic hazard is that large earthquakes will return to New Madrid and Charleston at intervals of about 500 years. With expected ground motions that would be stronger than average, that prospect produces estimates of earthquake hazard that rival those at the plate boundaries marked by the San Andreas fault and Cascadia subduction zone. The result is two large 'bull's-eyes' on the US National Seismic Hazard Maps — which, for example, influence regional building codes and perceptions of public safety.

St. Louis Area Earthquake Hazards Mapping Project - A Progress Report-November 2008

USGS Publications Warehouse

Karadeniz, D.; Rogers, J.D.; Williams, R.A.; Cramer, C.H.; Bauer, R.A.; Hoffman, D.; Chung, J.; Hempen, G.L.; Steckel, P.H.; Boyd, O.L.; Watkins, C.M.; McCallister, N.S.; Schweig, E.

2009-01-01

St. Louis has experienced minor earthquake damage at least 12 times in the past 200 years. Because of this history and its proximity to known active earthquake zones, the St. Louis Area Earthquake Hazards Mapping Project (SLAEHMP) is producing digital maps that show variability of earthquake hazards, including liquefaction and ground shaking, in the St. Louis area. The maps will be available free via the internet. Although not site specific enough to indicate the hazard at a house-by-house resolution, they can be customized by the user to show specific areas of interest, such as neighborhoods or transportation routes. Earthquakes currently cannot be predicted, but scientists can estimate how strongly the ground is likely to shake as the result of an earthquake. Earthquake hazard maps provide one way of conveying such estimates. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), which produces earthquake hazard maps for the Nation, is working with local partners to develop detailed maps for urban areas vulnerable to strong ground shaking. These partners, which along with the USGS comprise the SLAEHMP, include the Missouri University of Science and Technology-Rolla (Missouri S&T), Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS), Saint Louis University, Missouri State Emergency Management Agency, and URS Corporation. Preliminary hazard maps covering a test portion of the 29-quadrangle St. Louis study area have been produced and are currently being evaluated by the SLAEHMP. A USGS Fact Sheet summarizing this project was produced and almost 1000 copies have been distributed at several public outreach meetings and field trips that have featured the SLAEHMP (Williams and others, 2007). In addition, a USGS website focusing on the SLAEHMP, which provides links to project results and relevant earthquake hazard information, can be found at: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/ceus/urban_map/st_louis/index.php. This progress report summarizes the

Combining Multiple Rupture Models in Real-Time for Earthquake Early Warning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Minson, S. E.; Wu, S.; Beck, J. L.; Heaton, T. H.

2015-12-01

The ShakeAlert earthquake early warning system for the west coast of the United States is designed to combine information from multiple independent earthquake analysis algorithms in order to provide the public with robust predictions of shaking intensity at each user's location before they are affected by strong shaking. The current contributing analyses come from algorithms that determine the origin time, epicenter, and magnitude of an earthquake (On-site, ElarmS, and Virtual Seismologist). A second generation of algorithms will provide seismic line source information (FinDer), as well as geodetically-constrained slip models (BEFORES, GPSlip, G-larmS, G-FAST). These new algorithms will provide more information about the spatial extent of the earthquake rupture and thus improve the quality of the resulting shaking forecasts.Each of the contributing algorithms exploits different features of the observed seismic and geodetic data, and thus each algorithm may perform differently for different data availability and earthquake source characteristics. Thus the ShakeAlert system requires a central mediator, called the Central Decision Module (CDM). The CDM acts to combine disparate earthquake source information into one unified shaking forecast. Here we will present a new design for the CDM that uses a Bayesian framework to combine earthquake reports from multiple analysis algorithms and compares them to observed shaking information in order to both assess the relative plausibility of each earthquake report and to create an improved unified shaking forecast complete with appropriate uncertainties. We will describe how these probabilistic shaking forecasts can be used to provide each user with a personalized decision-making tool that can help decide whether or not to take a protective action (such as opening fire house doors or stopping trains) based on that user's distance to the earthquake, vulnerability to shaking, false alarm tolerance, and time required to act.

Statistical aspects and risks of human-caused earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klose, C. D.

2013-12-01

The seismological community invests ample human capital and financial resources to research and predict risks associated with earthquakes. Industries such as the insurance and re-insurance sector are equally interested in using probabilistic risk models developed by the scientific community to transfer risks. These models are used to predict expected losses due to naturally occurring earthquakes. But what about the risks associated with human-caused earthquakes? Such risk models are largely absent from both industry and academic discourse. In countries around the world, informed citizens are becoming increasingly aware and concerned that this economic bias is not sustainable for long-term economic growth, environmental and human security. Ultimately, citizens look to their government officials to hold industry accountable. In the Netherlands, for example, the hydrocarbon industry is held accountable for causing earthquakes near Groningen. In Switzerland, geothermal power plants were shut down or suspended because they caused earthquakes in canton Basel and St. Gallen. The public and the private non-extractive industry needs access to information about earthquake risks in connection with sub/urban geoengineeing activities, including natural gas production through fracking, geothermal energy production, carbon sequestration, mining and water irrigation. This presentation illuminates statistical aspects of human-caused earthquakes with respect to different geologic environments. Statistical findings are based on the first catalog of human-caused earthquakes (in Klose 2013). Findings are discussed which include the odds to die during a medium-size earthquake that is set off by geomechanical pollution. Any kind of geoengineering activity causes this type of pollution and increases the likelihood of triggering nearby faults to rupture.

Brady's Geothermal Field DAS Earthquake Data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kurt Feigl

The submitted data correspond to the vibration caused by a 3.4 M earthquake and captured by the DAS horizontal and vertical arrays during the PoroTomo Experiment. Earthquake information : M 4.3 - 23km ESE of Hawthorne, Nevada Time: 2016-03-21 07:37:10 (UTC) Location: 38.479 N 118.366 W Depth: 9.9 km

PAGER - Rapid Assessment of an Earthquake's Impact

USGS Publications Warehouse

Earle, Paul S.; Wald, David J.

2007-01-01

PAGER (Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response) is an automated system to rapidly assess the number of people and regions exposed to severe shaking by an earthquake, and inform emergency responders, government agencies, and the media to the scope of the potential disaster. PAGER monitors the U.S. Geological Survey?s near real-time U.S. and global earthquake detections and automatically identifies events that are of societal importance, well in advance of ground-truth or news accounts.

Research in seismology and earthquake engineering in Venezuela

USGS Publications Warehouse

Urbina, L.; Grases, J.

1983-01-01

After the July 29, 1967, damaging earthquake (with a moderate magnitude of 6.3) caused widespread damage to the northern coastal area of Venezuela and to the Caracas Valley, the Venezuelan Government decided to establish a Presidential Earthquake Commission. This commission undertook the task of coordinating the efforts to study the after-effects of the earthquake. The July 1967 earthquake claimed numerous lives and caused extensive damage to the capital of Venezuela. In 1968, the U.S Geological Survey conducted a seismological field study in the northern coastal area and in the Caracas Valley of Venezuela. the objective was to study the area that sustained severe, moderate, and no damage to structures. A reported entitled Ground Amplification Studies in Earthquake Damage Areas: The Caracas Earthquake of 1967 documented, for the first time, short-period seismic wave ground-motion amplifications in the Caracas Valley. Figure 1 shows the area of severe damage in the Los Palos Grantes suburb and the correlation with depth of alluvium and the arabic numbers denote the ground amplification factor at each site in the area. the Venezuelan Government initiated many programs to study in detail the damage sustained and to investigate the ongoing construction practices. These actions motivated professionals in the academic, private, and Government sectors to develops further capabilities and self-sufficiency in the fields of engineering and seismology. Allocation of funds was made to assist in training professionals and technicians and in developing new seismological stations and new programs at the national level in earthquake engineering and seismology. A brief description of the ongoing programs in Venezuela is listed below. these programs are being performed by FUNVISIS and by other national organizations listed at the end of this article.   

Parallelization of the Coupled Earthquake Model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Block, Gary; Li, P. Peggy; Song, Yuhe T.

2007-01-01

This Web-based tsunami simulation system allows users to remotely run a model on JPL s supercomputers for a given undersea earthquake. At the time of this reporting, predicting tsunamis on the Internet has never happened before. This new code directly couples the earthquake model and the ocean model on parallel computers and improves simulation speed. Seismometers can only detect information from earthquakes; they cannot detect whether or not a tsunami may occur as a result of the earthquake. When earthquake-tsunami models are coupled with the improved computational speed of modern, high-performance computers and constrained by remotely sensed data, they are able to provide early warnings for those coastal regions at risk. The software is capable of testing NASA s satellite observations of tsunamis. It has been successfully tested for several historical tsunamis, has passed all alpha and beta testing, and is well documented for users.

Geographic distribution of blood collections in Haiti before and after the 2010 earthquake.

PubMed

Bjork, A; Jean Baptiste, A E; Noel, E; Jean Charles, N P D; Polo, E; Pitman, J P

2017-05-01

The January 2010 Haiti earthquake destroyed the National Blood Transfusion Center and reduced monthly national blood collections by > 46%. Efforts to rapidly scale-up blood collections outside of the earthquake-affected region were investigated. Blood collection data for 2004-2014 from Haiti's 10 administrative departments were grouped into four regions: Northern, Central, Port-au-Prince and Southern. Analyses compared regional collection totals during the study period. Collections in Port-au-Prince accounted for 52% of Haiti's blood supply in 2009, but fell 96% in February 2010. Haiti subsequently increased blood collections in the North, Central and Southern regions to compensate. By May 2010, national blood collections were only 10·9% lower than in May 2009, with 70% of collections coming from outside of Port-au-Prince. By 2013 national collections (27 478 units) had surpassed 2009 levels by 30%, and Port-au-Prince collections had recovered (from 11 074 units in 2009 to 11 670 units in 2013). Haiti's National Blood Safety Program managed a rapid expansion of collections outside of Port-au-Prince following the earthquake. Annual collections exceeded pre-earthquake levels by 2012 and continued rising annually. Increased regional collections provided a greater share of the national blood supply, reducing dependence on Port-au-Prince for collections.

Mega-thrust and Intra-slab Earthquakes Beneath Tokyo Metropolitan Area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hirata, N.; Sato, H.; Koketsu, K.; Hagiwara, H.; Wu, F.; Okaya, D.; Iwasaki, T.; Kasahara, K.

2006-12-01

In central Japan the Philippine Sea plate (PSP) subducts beneath the Tokyo Metropolitan area, the Kanto region, where it causes mega-thrust earthquakes, such as the 1703 Genroku earthquake (M8.0) and the 1923 Kanto earthquake (M7.9) which had 105,000 fatalities. The vertical proximity of this down going lithospheric plate is of concern because the greater Tokyo urban region has a population of 42 million and is the center of approximately 40% of the nation's economic activities. A M7+ earthquake in this region at present has high potential to produce devastating loss of life and property with even greater global economic repercussions. The M7+ earthquake is evaluated to occur with a probability of 70% in 30 years by the Earthquake Research Committee of Japan. In 2002, a consortium of universities and government agencies in Japan started the Special Project for Earthquake Disaster Mitigation in Urban Areas, a project to improve information needed for seismic hazards analyses of the largest urban centers. Assessment in Kanto of the seismic hazard produced by the Philippine Sea Plate (PSP) mega-thrust earthquakes requires identification of all significant faults and possible earthquake scenarios and rupture behavior, regional characterizations of PSP geometry and the overlying Honshu arc physical properties (e.g., seismic wave velocities, densities, attenuation), and local near-surface seism ic site effects. Our study addresses (1) improved regional characterization of the PSP geometry based on new deep seismic reflection profiles (Sato etal.,2005), reprocessed off-shore profiles (Kimura et al.,2005), and a dense seismic array in the Boso peninsular (Hagiwara et al., 2006) and (2) identification of asperities of the mega-thrust at the top of the PSP. We qualitatively examine the relationship between seismic reflections and asperities inferred by reflection physical properties. We also discuss the relation between deformation of PSP and intra-slab M7+ earthquakes: the

Communicating Earthquake Preparedness: The Influence of Induced Mood, Perceived Risk, and Gain or Loss Frames on Homeowners' Attitudes Toward General Precautionary Measures for Earthquakes.

PubMed

Marti, Michèle; Stauffacher, Michael; Matthes, Jörg; Wiemer, Stefan

2018-04-01

Despite global efforts to reduce seismic risk, actual preparedness levels remain universally low. Although earthquake-resistant building design is the most efficient way to decrease potential losses, its application is not a legal requirement across all earthquake-prone countries and even if, often not strictly enforced. Risk communication encouraging homeowners to take precautionary measures is therefore an important means to enhance a country's earthquake resilience. Our study illustrates that specific interactions of mood, perceived risk, and frame type significantly affect homeowners' attitudes toward general precautionary measures for earthquakes. The interdependencies of the variables mood, risk information, and frame type were tested in an experimental 2 × 2 × 2 design (N = 156). Only in combination and not on their own, these variables effectively influence attitudes toward general precautionary measures for earthquakes. The control variables gender, "trait anxiety" index, and alteration of perceived risk adjust the effect. Overall, the group with the strongest attitudes toward general precautionary actions for earthquakes are homeowners with induced negative mood who process high-risk information and gain-framed messages. However, the conditions comprising induced negative mood, low-risk information and loss-frame and induced positive mood, low-risk information and gain-framed messages both also significantly influence homeowners' attitudes toward general precautionary measures for earthquakes. These results mostly confirm previous findings in the field of health communication. For practitioners, our study emphasizes that carefully compiled communication measures are a powerful means to encourage precautionary attitudes among homeowners, especially for those with an elevated perceived risk. © 2017 Society for Risk Analysis.

Developing Methodologies for Evaluating the Earthquake Safety of Existing Buildings.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bresler, B.; And Others

This report contains four papers written during an investigation of methods for evaluating the safety of existing school buildings under Research Applied to National Needs (RANN) grants. In "Evaluation of Earthquake Safety of Existing Buildings," by B. Bresler, preliminary ideas on the evaluation of the earthquake safety of existing…

POST Earthquake Debris Management - AN Overview

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sarkar, Raju

Every year natural disasters, such as fires, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, landslides, tsunami, and tornadoes, challenge various communities of the world. Earthquakes strike with varying degrees of severity and pose both short- and long-term challenges to public service providers. Earthquakes generate shock waves and displace the ground along fault lines. These seismic forces can bring down buildings and bridges in a localized area and damage buildings and other structures in a far wider area. Secondary damage from fires, explosions, and localized flooding from broken water pipes can increase the amount of debris. Earthquake debris includes building materials, personal property, and sediment from landslides. The management of this debris, as well as the waste generated during the reconstruction works, can place significant challenges on the national and local capacities. Debris removal is a major component of every post earthquake recovery operation. Much of the debris generated from earthquake is not hazardous. Soil, building material, and green waste, such as trees and shrubs, make up most of the volume of earthquake debris. These wastes not only create significant health problems and a very unpleasant living environment if not disposed of safely and appropriately, but also can subsequently impose economical burdens on the reconstruction phase. In practice, most of the debris may be either disposed of at landfill sites, reused as materials for construction or recycled into useful commodities Therefore, the debris clearance operation should focus on the geotechnical engineering approach as an important post earthquake issue to control the quality of the incoming flow of potential soil materials. In this paper, the importance of an emergency management perspective in this geotechnical approach that takes into account the different criteria related to the operation execution is proposed by highlighting the key issues concerning the handling of the construction

Mapping individuals' earthquake preparedness in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Guochun; Han, Ziqiang; Xu, Weijin; Gong, Yue

2018-05-01

Disaster preparedness is critical for reducing potential impact. This paper contributes to current knowledge of disaster preparedness using representative national sample data from China, which faces high earthquake risks in many areas of the country. The adoption of earthquake preparedness activities by the general public, including five indicators of material preparedness and five indicators of awareness preparedness, were surveyed and 3245 respondents from all 31 provinces of Mainland China participated in the survey. Linear regression models and logit regression models were used to analyze the effects of potential influencing factors. Overall, the preparedness levels are not satisfied, with a material preparation score of 3.02 (1-5), and awareness preparation score of 2.79 (1-5), nationally. Meanwhile, residents from western China, which has higher earthquake risk, have higher degrees of preparedness. The concern for disaster risk reduction (DRR) and the concern for building safety and participation in public affairs are consistent positive predictors of both material and awareness preparedness. The demographic and socioeconomic variables' effects, such as gender, age, education, income, urban/rural division, and building size, vary according to different preparedness activities. Finally, the paper concludes with a discussion of the theoretical contribution and potential implementation.

Seismicity associated with the Sumatra-Andaman Islands earthquake of 26 December 2004

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dewey, J.W.; Choy, G.; Presgrave, B.; Sipkin, S.; Tarr, A.C.; Benz, H.; Earle, P.; Wald, D.

2007-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey/National Earthquake Information Center (USGS/ NEIC) had computed origins for 5000 earthquakes in the Sumatra-Andaman Islands region in the first 36 weeks after the Sumatra-Andaman Islands mainshock of 26 December 2004. The cataloging of earthquakes of mb (USGS) 5.1 and larger is essentially complete for the time period except for the first half-day following the 26 December mainshock, a period of about two hours following the Nias earthquake of 28 March 2005, and occasionally during the Andaman Sea swarm of 26-30 January 2005. Moderate and larger (mb ???5.5) aftershocks are absent from most of the deep interplate thrust faults of the segments of the Sumatra-Andaman Islands subduction zone on which the 26 December mainshock occurred, which probably reflects nearly complete release of elastic strain on the seismogenic interplate-thrust during the mainshock. An exceptional thrust-fault source offshore of Banda Aceh may represent a segment of the interplate thrust that was bypassed during the mainshock. The 26 December mainshock triggered a high level of aftershock activity near the axis of the Sunda trench and the leading edge of the overthrust Burma plate. Much near-trench activity is intraplate activity within the subducting plate, but some shallow-focus, near-trench, reverse-fault earthquakes may represent an unusual seismogenic release of interplate compressional stress near the tip of the overriding plate. The interplate-thrust Nias earthquake of 28 March 2005, in contrast to the 26 December aftershock sequence, was followed by many interplate-thrust aftershocks along the length of its inferred rupture zone.

Summary of November 2010 meeting to evaluate turbidite data for constraining the recurrence parameters of great Cascadia earthquakes for the update of national seismic hazard maps

USGS Publications Warehouse

Frankel, Arthur D.

2011-01-01

This report summarizes a meeting of geologists, marine sedimentologists, geophysicists, and seismologists that was held on November 18–19, 2010 at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. The overall goal of the meeting was to evaluate observations of turbidite deposits to provide constraints on the recurrence time and rupture extent of great Cascadia subduction zone (CSZ) earthquakes for the next update of the U.S. national seismic hazard maps (NSHM). The meeting was convened at Oregon State University because this is the major center for collecting and evaluating turbidite evidence of great Cascadia earthquakes by Chris Goldfinger and his colleagues. We especially wanted the participants to see some of the numerous deep sea cores this group has collected that contain the turbidite deposits. Great earthquakes on the CSZ pose a major tsunami, ground-shaking, and ground-failure hazard to the Pacific Northwest. Figure 1 shows a map of the Pacific Northwest with a model for the rupture zone of a moment magnitude Mw 9.0 earthquake on the CSZ and the ground shaking intensity (in ShakeMap format) expected from such an earthquake, based on empirical ground-motion prediction equations. The damaging effects of such an earthquake would occur over a wide swath of the Pacific Northwest and an accompanying tsunami would likely cause devastation along the Pacifc Northwest coast and possibly cause damage and loss of life in other areas of the Pacific. A magnitude 8 earthquake on the CSZ would cause damaging ground shaking and ground failure over a substantial area and could also generate a destructive tsunami. The recent tragic occurrence of the 2011 Mw 9.0 Tohoku-Oki, Japan, earthquake highlights the importance of having accurate estimates of the recurrence times and magnitudes of great earthquakes on subduction zones. For the U.S. national seismic hazard maps, estimating the hazard from the Cascadia subduction zone has been based on coastal paleoseismic evidence of great

CISN ShakeAlert: Improving the Virtual Seismologist (VS) earthquake early warning framework to provide faster, more robust warning information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meier, M.; Cua, G. B.; Wiemer, S.; Fischer, M.

2011-12-01

The Virtual Seismologist (VS) method is a Bayesian approach to regional network-based earthquake early warning (EEW) that uses observed phase arrivals, ground motion amplitudes and selected prior information to estimate earthquake magnitude, location and origin time, and predict the distribution of peak ground motion throughout a region using envelope attenuation relationships. Implementation of the VS algorithm in California is an on-going effort of the Swiss Seismological Service (SED) at ETH Zürich. VS is one of three EEW algorithms - the other two being ElarmS (Allen and Kanamori, 2003) and On-Site (Wu and Kanamori, 2005; Boese et al., 2008) - that form the basis of the California Integrated Seismic Network ShakeAlert system, a prototype end-to-end EEW system that could potentially be implemented in California. The current prototype version of VS in California requires picks at 4 stations to initiate an event declaration. On average, taking into account data latency, variable station distribution, and processing time, this initial estimate is available about 20 seconds after the earthquake origin time, corresponding to a blind zone of about 70 km around the epicenter which would receive no warning, but where it would be the most useful. To increase the available warning time, we want to produce EEW estimates faster (with less than 4 stations). However, working with less than 4 stations with our current approach would increase the number of false alerts, for which there is very little tolerance in a useful EEW system. We explore the use of back-azimuth estimations and the Voronoi-based concept of not-yet-arrived data for reducing false alerts of the earliest VS estimates. The concept of not-yet-arrived data was originally used to provide evolutionary location estimates in EEW (Horiuchi, 2005; Cua and Heaton, 2007; Satriano et al. 2008). However, it can also be applied in discriminating between earthquake and non-earthquake signals. For real earthquakes, the

Multiple seismogenic processes for high-frequency earthquakes at Katmai National Park, Alaska: Evidence from stress tensor inversions of fault-plane solutions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Moran, S.C.

2003-01-01

The volcanological significance of seismicity within Katmai National Park has been debated since the first seismograph was installed in 1963, in part because Katmai seismicity consists almost entirely of high-frequency earthquakes that can be caused by a wide range of processes. I investigate this issue by determining 140 well-constrained first-motion fault-plane solutions for shallow (depth < 9 km) earthquakes occuring between 1995 and 2001 and inverting these solutions for the stress tensor in different regions within the park. Earthquakes removed by several kilometers from the volcanic axis occur in a stress field characterized by horizontally oriented ??1 and ??3 axes, with ??1 rotated slightly (12??) relative to the NUVELIA subduction vector, indicating that these earthquakes are occurring in response to regional tectonic forces. On the other hand, stress tensors for earthquake clusters beneath several Katmai cluster volcanoes have vertically oriented ??1 axes, indicating that these events are occuring in response to local, not regional, processes. At Martin-Mageik, vertically oriented ??1 is most consistent with failure under edifice loading conditions in conjunction with localized pore pressure increases associated with hydrothermal circulation cells. At Trident-Novarupta, it is consistent with a number of possible models, including occurence along fractures formed during the 1912 eruption that now serve as horizontal conduits for migrating fluids and/or volatiles from nearby degassing and cooling magma bodies. At Mount Katmai, it is most consistent with continued seismicity along ring-fracture systems created in the 1912 eruption, perhaps enhanced by circulating hydrothermal fluids and/or seepage from the caldera-filling lake.

NASA Applied Sciences Disasters Program Support for the September 2017 Mexico Earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glasscoe, M. T.; Kirschbaum, D.; Torres-Perez, J. L.; Yun, S. H.; Owen, S. E.; Hua, H.; Fielding, E. J.; Liang, C.; Bekaert, D. P.; Osmanoglu, B.; Amini, R.; Green, D. S.; Murray, J. J.; Stough, T.; Struve, J. C.; Seepersad, J.; Thompson, V.

2017-12-01

The 8 September M 8.1 Tehuantepec and 19 September M 7.1 Puebla earthquakes were among the largest earthquakes recorded in Mexico. These two events caused widespread damage, affecting several million people and causing numerous casualties. A team of event coordinators in the NASA Applied Sciences Program activated soon after these devastating earthquakes in order to support decision makers in Mexico, using NASA modeling and international remote sensing capabilities to generate decision support products to aid in response and recovery. The NASA Disasters Program promotes the use of Earth observations to improve the prediction of, preparation for, response to, and recovery from natural and technological disasters. For these two events, the Disasters Program worked with Mexico's space agency (Agencia Espacial Mexico, AEM) and the National Center for Prevention of Disasters (Centro Nacional de Prevención de Desastres, CENAPRED) to generate products to support response, decision-making, and recovery. Products were also provided to academic partners, technical institutions, and field responders to support response. In addition, the Program partnered with the US Geological Survey (USGS), Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), and other partners in order to provide information to federal and domestic agencies that were supporting event response. Leveraging the expertise of investigators at NASA Centers, products such as landslide susceptibility maps, precipitation models, and radar based damage assessments and surface deformation maps were generated and used by AEM, CENAPRED, and others during the event. These were used by AEM in collaboration with other government agencies in Mexico to make appropriate decisions for mapping damage, rescue and recovery, and informing the population regarding areas prone to potential risk. We will provide an overview of the response activities and data products generated in support of the earthquake response, partnerships with

Accessing northern California earthquake data via Internet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romanowicz, Barbara; Neuhauser, Douglas; Bogaert, Barbara; Oppenheimer, David

The Northern California Earthquake Data Center (NCEDC) provides easy access to central and northern California digital earthquake data. It is located at the University of California, Berkeley, and is operated jointly with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Menlo Park, Calif., and funded by the University of California and the National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program. It has been accessible to users in the scientific community through Internet since mid-1992.The data center provides an on-line archive for parametric and waveform data from two regional networks: the Northern California Seismic Network (NCSN) operated by the USGS and the Berkeley Digital Seismic Network (BDSN) operated by the Seismographic Station at the University of California, Berkeley.

Operational Earthquake Forecasting and Earthquake Early Warning: The Challenges of Introducing Scientific Innovations for Public Safety

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goltz, J. D.

2016-12-01

Although variants of both earthquake early warning and short-term operational earthquake forecasting systems have been implemented or are now being implemented in some regions and nations, they have been slow to gain acceptance within the disciplines that produced them as well as among those for whom they were intended to assist. To accelerate the development and implementation of these technologies will require the cooperation and collaboration of multiple disciplines, some inside and others outside of academia. Seismologists, social scientists, emergency managers, elected officials and key opinion leaders from the media and public must be the participants in this process. Representatives of these groups come from both inside and outside of academia and represent very different organizational cultures, backgrounds and expectations for these systems, sometimes leading to serious disagreements and impediments to further development and implementation. This presentation will focus on examples of the emergence of earthquake early warning and operational earthquake forecasting systems in California, Japan and other regions and document the challenges confronted in the ongoing effort to improve seismic safety.

The wicked problem of earthquake hazard in developing countries: the example of Bangladesh

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steckler, M. S.; Akhter, S. H.; Stein, S.; Seeber, L.

2017-12-01

Many developing nations in earthquake-prone areas confront a tough problem: how much of their limited resources to use mitigating earthquake hazards? This decision is difficult because it is unclear when an infrequent major earthquake may happen, how big it could be, and how much harm it may cause. This issue faces nations with profound immediate needs and ongoing rapid urbanization. Earthquake hazard mitigation in Bangladesh is a wicked problem. It is the world's most densely populated nation, with 160 million people in an area the size of Iowa. Complex geology and sparse data make assessing a possibly-large earthquake hazard difficult. Hence it is hard to decide how much of the limited resources available should be used for earthquake hazard mitigation, given other more immediate needs. Per capita GDP is $1200, so Bangladesh is committed to economic growth and resources are needed to address many critical challenges and hazards. In their subtropical environment, rural Bangladeshis traditionally relied on modest mud or bamboo homes. Their rapidly growing, crowded capital, Dhaka, is filled with multistory concrete buildings likely to be vulnerable to earthquakes. The risk is compounded by the potential collapse of services and accessibility after a major temblor. However, extensive construction as the population shifts from rural to urban provides opportunity for earthquake-risk reduction. While this situation seems daunting, it is not hopeless. Robust risk management is practical, even for developing nations. It involves recognizing uncertainties and developing policies that should give a reasonable outcome for a range of the possible hazard and loss scenarios. Over decades, Bangladesh has achieved a thousandfold reduction in risk from tropical cyclones by building shelters and setting up a warning system. Similar efforts are underway for earthquakes. Smart investments can be very effective, even if modest. Hence, we suggest strategies consistent with high

Geophysical Anomalies and Earthquake Prediction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jackson, D. D.

2008-12-01

Finding anomalies is easy. Predicting earthquakes convincingly from such anomalies is far from easy. Why? Why have so many beautiful geophysical abnormalities not led to successful prediction strategies? What is earthquake prediction? By my definition it is convincing information that an earthquake of specified size is temporarily much more likely than usual in a specific region for a specified time interval. We know a lot about normal earthquake behavior, including locations where earthquake rates are higher than elsewhere, with estimable rates and size distributions. We know that earthquakes have power law size distributions over large areas, that they cluster in time and space, and that aftershocks follow with power-law dependence on time. These relationships justify prudent protective measures and scientific investigation. Earthquake prediction would justify exceptional temporary measures well beyond those normal prudent actions. Convincing earthquake prediction would result from methods that have demonstrated many successes with few false alarms. Predicting earthquakes convincingly is difficult for several profound reasons. First, earthquakes start in tiny volumes at inaccessible depth. The power law size dependence means that tiny unobservable ones are frequent almost everywhere and occasionally grow to larger size. Thus prediction of important earthquakes is not about nucleation, but about identifying the conditions for growth. Second, earthquakes are complex. They derive their energy from stress, which is perniciously hard to estimate or model because it is nearly singular at the margins of cracks and faults. Physical properties vary from place to place, so the preparatory processes certainly vary as well. Thus establishing the needed track record for validation is very difficult, especially for large events with immense interval times in any one location. Third, the anomalies are generally complex as well. Electromagnetic anomalies in particular require

Modeling fast and slow earthquakes at various scales

PubMed Central

IDE, Satoshi

2014-01-01

Earthquake sources represent dynamic rupture within rocky materials at depth and often can be modeled as propagating shear slip controlled by friction laws. These laws provide boundary conditions on fault planes embedded in elastic media. Recent developments in observation networks, laboratory experiments, and methods of data analysis have expanded our knowledge of the physics of earthquakes. Newly discovered slow earthquakes are qualitatively different phenomena from ordinary fast earthquakes and provide independent information on slow deformation at depth. Many numerical simulations have been carried out to model both fast and slow earthquakes, but problems remain, especially with scaling laws. Some mechanisms are required to explain the power-law nature of earthquake rupture and the lack of characteristic length. Conceptual models that include a hierarchical structure over a wide range of scales would be helpful for characterizing diverse behavior in different seismic regions and for improving probabilistic forecasts of earthquakes. PMID:25311138

Modeling fast and slow earthquakes at various scales.

PubMed

Ide, Satoshi

2014-01-01

Earthquake sources represent dynamic rupture within rocky materials at depth and often can be modeled as propagating shear slip controlled by friction laws. These laws provide boundary conditions on fault planes embedded in elastic media. Recent developments in observation networks, laboratory experiments, and methods of data analysis have expanded our knowledge of the physics of earthquakes. Newly discovered slow earthquakes are qualitatively different phenomena from ordinary fast earthquakes and provide independent information on slow deformation at depth. Many numerical simulations have been carried out to model both fast and slow earthquakes, but problems remain, especially with scaling laws. Some mechanisms are required to explain the power-law nature of earthquake rupture and the lack of characteristic length. Conceptual models that include a hierarchical structure over a wide range of scales would be helpful for characterizing diverse behavior in different seismic regions and for improving probabilistic forecasts of earthquakes.

Temporal stress changes caused by earthquakes: A review

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hardebeck, Jeanne L.; Okada, Tomomi

2018-01-01

Earthquakes can change the stress field in the Earth’s lithosphere as they relieve and redistribute stress. Earthquake-induced stress changes have been observed as temporal rotations of the principal stress axes following major earthquakes in a variety of tectonic settings. The stress changes due to the 2011 Mw9.0 Tohoku-Oki, Japan, earthquake were particularly well documented. Earthquake stress rotations can inform our understanding of earthquake physics, most notably addressing the long-standing problem of whether the Earth’s crust at plate boundaries is “strong” or “weak.” Many of the observed stress rotations, including that due to the Tohoku-Oki earthquake, indicate near-complete stress drop in the mainshock. This implies low background differential stress, on the order of earthquake stress drop, supporting the weak crust model. Earthquake stress rotations can also be used to address other important geophysical questions, such as the level of crustal stress heterogeneity and the mechanisms of postseismic stress reloading. The quantitative interpretation of stress rotations is evolving from those based on simple analytical methods to those based on more sophisticated numerical modeling that can capture the spatial-temporal complexity of the earthquake stress changes.

Temporal Stress Changes Caused by Earthquakes: A Review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hardebeck, Jeanne L.; Okada, Tomomi

2018-02-01

Earthquakes can change the stress field in the Earth's lithosphere as they relieve and redistribute stress. Earthquake-induced stress changes have been observed as temporal rotations of the principal stress axes following major earthquakes in a variety of tectonic settings. The stress changes due to the 2011 Mw9.0 Tohoku-Oki, Japan, earthquake were particularly well documented. Earthquake stress rotations can inform our understanding of earthquake physics, most notably addressing the long-standing problem of whether the Earth's crust at plate boundaries is "strong" or "weak." Many of the observed stress rotations, including that due to the Tohoku-Oki earthquake, indicate near-complete stress drop in the mainshock. This implies low background differential stress, on the order of earthquake stress drop, supporting the weak crust model. Earthquake stress rotations can also be used to address other important geophysical questions, such as the level of crustal stress heterogeneity and the mechanisms of postseismic stress reloading. The quantitative interpretation of stress rotations is evolving from those based on simple analytical methods to those based on more sophisticated numerical modeling that can capture the spatial-temporal complexity of the earthquake stress changes.

People’s perspectives and expectations on preparedness against earthquakes: Tehran case study

PubMed Central

Jahangiri, Katayoun; Izadkhah, Yasamin O; Montazeri, Ali; Hosseini, Mahmood

2010-01-01

Abstract: Background: Public education is one of the most important elements of earthquake preparedness. The present study identifies methods and appropriate strategies for public awareness and education on preparedness for earthquakes based on people's opinions in the city of Tehran. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study and a door-to-door survey of residents from 22 municipal districts in Tehran, the capital city of Iran. It involved a total of 1 211 individuals aged 15 and above. People were asked about different methods of public information and education, as well as the type of information needed for earthquake preparedness. Results: "Enforcing the building contractors' compliance with the construction codes and regulations" was ranked as the first priority by 33.4% of the respondents. Over 70% of the participants (71.7%) regarded TV as the most appropriate means of media communication to prepare people for an earthquake. This was followed by "radio" which was selected by 51.6% of respondents. Slightly over 95% of the respondents believed that there would soon be an earthquake in the country, and 80% reported that they obtained this information from "the general public". Seventy percent of the study population felt that news of an earthquake should be communicated through the media. However, over fifty (58%) of the participants believed that governmental officials and agencies are best qualified to disseminate information about the risk of an imminent earthquake. Just over half (50.8%) of the respondents argued that the authorities do not usually provide enough information to people about earthquakes and the probability of their occurrence. Besides seismologists, respondents thought astronauts (32%), fortunetellers (32.3%), religious figures (34%), meteorologists (23%), and paleontologists (2%) can correctly predict the occurrence of an earthquake. Furthermore, 88.6% listed aid centers, mosques, newspapers and TV as the most important sources of

Using remote sensing to predict earthquake impacts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fylaktos, Asimakis; Yfantidou, Anastasia

2017-09-01

Natural hazards like earthquakes can result to enormous property damage, and human casualties in mountainous areas. Italy has always been exposed to numerous earthquakes, mostly concentrated in central and southern regions. Last year, two seismic events near Norcia (central Italy) have occurred, which led to substantial loss of life and extensive damage to properties, infrastructure and cultural heritage. This research utilizes remote sensing products and GIS software, to provide a database of information. We used both SAR images of Sentinel 1A and optical imagery of Landsat 8 to examine the differences of topography with the aid of the multi temporal monitoring technique. This technique suits for the observation of any surface deformation. This database is a cluster of information regarding the consequences of the earthquakes in groups, such as property and infrastructure damage, regional rifts, cultivation loss, landslides and surface deformations amongst others, all mapped on GIS software. Relevant organizations can implement these data in order to calculate the financial impact of these types of earthquakes. In the future, we can enrich this database including more regions and enhance the variety of its applications. For instance, we could predict the future impacts of any type of earthquake in several areas, and design a preliminarily model of emergency for immediate evacuation and quick recovery response. It is important to know how the surface moves, in particular geographical regions like Italy, Cyprus and Greece, where earthquakes are so frequent. We are not able to predict earthquakes, but using data from this research, we may assess the damage that could be caused in the future.

Seismic databases and earthquake catalogue of the Caucasus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Godoladze, Tea; Javakhishvili, Zurab; Tvaradze, Nino; Tumanova, Nino; Jorjiashvili, Nato; Gok, Rengen

2016-04-01

The Caucasus has a documented historical catalog stretching back to the beginning of the Christian era. Most of the largest historical earthquakes prior to the 19th century are assumed to have occurred on active faults of the Greater Caucasus. Important earthquakes include the Samtskhe earthquake of 1283, Ms~7.0, Io=9; Lechkhumi-Svaneti earthquake of 1350, Ms~7.0, Io=9; and the Alaverdi(earthquake of 1742, Ms~6.8, Io=9. Two significant historical earthquakes that may have occurred within the Javakheti plateau in the Lesser Caucasus are the Tmogvi earthquake of 1088, Ms~6.5, Io=9 and the Akhalkalaki earthquake of 1899, Ms~6.3, Io =8-9. Large earthquakes that occurred in the Caucasus within the period of instrumental observation are: Gori 1920; Tabatskuri 1940; Chkhalta 1963; 1991 Ms=7.0 Racha earthquake, the largest event ever recorded in the region; the 1992 M=6.5 Barisakho earthquake; Ms=6.9 Spitak, Armenia earthquake (100 km south of Tbilisi), which killed over 50,000 people in Armenia. Recently, permanent broadband stations have been deployed across the region as part of various national networks (Georgia (~25 stations), Azerbaijan (~35 stations), Armenia (~14 stations)). The data from the last 10 years of observation provides an opportunity to perform modern, fundamental scientific investigations. A catalog of all instrumentally recorded earthquakes has been compiled by the IES (Institute of Earth Sciences, Ilia State University). The catalog consists of more then 80,000 events. Together with our colleagues from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey the database for the Caucasus seismic events was compiled. We tried to improve locations of the events and calculate Moment magnitudes for the events more than magnitude 4 estimate in order to obtain unified magnitude catalogue of the region. The results will serve as the input for the Seismic hazard assessment for the region.

Simulating Earthquakes for Science and Society: Earthquake Visualizations Ideal for use in Science Communication and Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Groot, R.

2008-12-01

The Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) has been developing groundbreaking computer modeling capabilities for studying earthquakes. These visualizations were initially shared within the scientific community but have recently gained visibility via television news coverage in Southern California. Computers have opened up a whole new world for scientists working with large data sets, and students can benefit from the same opportunities (Libarkin & Brick, 2002). For example, The Great Southern California ShakeOut was based on a potential magnitude 7.8 earthquake on the southern San Andreas fault. The visualization created for the ShakeOut was a key scientific and communication tool for the earthquake drill. This presentation will also feature SCEC Virtual Display of Objects visualization software developed by SCEC Undergraduate Studies in Earthquake Information Technology interns. According to Gordin and Pea (1995), theoretically visualization should make science accessible, provide means for authentic inquiry, and lay the groundwork to understand and critique scientific issues. This presentation will discuss how the new SCEC visualizations and other earthquake imagery achieve these results, how they fit within the context of major themes and study areas in science communication, and how the efficacy of these tools can be improved.

Inferring rupture characteristics using new databases for 3D slab geometry and earthquake rupture models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hayes, G. P.; Plescia, S. M.; Moore, G.

2017-12-01

The U.S. Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center has recently published a database of finite fault models for globally distributed M7.5+ earthquakes since 1990. Concurrently, we have also compiled a database of three-dimensional slab geometry models for all global subduction zones, to update and replace Slab1.0. Here, we use these two new and valuable resources to infer characteristics of earthquake rupture and propagation in subduction zones, where the vast majority of large-to-great-sized earthquakes occur. For example, we can test questions that are fairly prevalent in seismological literature. Do large ruptures preferentially occur where subduction zones are flat (e.g., Bletery et al., 2016)? Can `flatness' be mapped to understand and quantify earthquake potential? Do the ends of ruptures correlate with significant changes in slab geometry, and/or bathymetric features entering the subduction zone? Do local subduction zone geometry changes spatially correlate with areas of low slip in rupture models (e.g., Moreno et al., 2012)? Is there a correlation between average seismogenic zone dip, and/or seismogenic zone width, and earthquake size? (e.g., Hayes et al., 2012; Heuret et al., 2011). These issues are fundamental to the understanding of earthquake rupture dynamics and subduction zone seismogenesis, and yet many are poorly understood or are still debated in scientific literature. We attempt to address these questions and similar issues in this presentation, and show how these models can be used to improve our understanding of earthquake hazard in subduction zones.

The 2004 Parkfield, CA Earthquake: A Teachable Moment for Exploring Earthquake Processes, Probability, and Earthquake Prediction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kafka, A.; Barnett, M.; Ebel, J.; Bellegarde, H.; Campbell, L.

2004-12-01

The occurrence of the 2004 Parkfield earthquake provided a unique "teachable moment" for students in our science course for teacher education majors. The course uses seismology as a medium for teaching a wide variety of science topics appropriate for future teachers. The 2004 Parkfield earthquake occurred just 15 minutes after our students completed a lab on earthquake processes and earthquake prediction. That lab included a discussion of the Parkfield Earthquake Prediction Experiment as a motivation for the exercises they were working on that day. Furthermore, this earthquake was recorded on an AS1 seismograph right in their lab, just minutes after the students left. About an hour after we recorded the earthquake, the students were able to see their own seismogram of the event in the lecture part of the course, which provided an excellent teachable moment for a lecture/discussion on how the occurrence of the 2004 Parkfield earthquake might affect seismologists' ideas about earthquake prediction. The specific lab exercise that the students were working on just before we recorded this earthquake was a "sliding block" experiment that simulates earthquakes in the classroom. The experimental apparatus includes a flat board on top of which are blocks of wood attached to a bungee cord and a string wrapped around a hand crank. Plate motion is modeled by slowly turning the crank, and earthquakes are modeled as events in which the block slips ("blockquakes"). We scaled the earthquake data and the blockquake data (using how much the string moved as a proxy for time) so that we could compare blockquakes and earthquakes. This provided an opportunity to use interevent-time histograms to teach about earthquake processes, probability, and earthquake prediction, and to compare earthquake sequences with blockquake sequences. We were able to show the students, using data obtained directly from their own lab, how global earthquake data fit a Poisson exponential distribution better

Earthquake prediction rumors can help in building earthquake awareness: the case of May the 11th 2011 in Rome (Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amato, A.; Arcoraci, L.; Casarotti, E.; Cultrera, G.; Di Stefano, R.; Margheriti, L.; Nostro, C.; Selvaggi, G.; May-11 Team

2012-04-01

Banner headlines in an Italian newspaper read on May 11, 2011: "Absence boom in offices: the urban legend in Rome become psychosis". This was the effect of a large-magnitude earthquake prediction in Rome for May 11, 2011. This prediction was never officially released, but it grew up in Internet and was amplified by media. It was erroneously ascribed to Raffaele Bendandi, an Italian self-taught natural scientist who studied planetary motions and related them to earthquakes. Indeed, around May 11, 2011, there was a planetary alignment and this increased the earthquake prediction credibility. Given the echo of this earthquake prediction, INGV decided to organize on May 11 (the same day the earthquake was predicted to happen) an Open Day in its headquarter in Rome to inform on the Italian seismicity and the earthquake physics. The Open Day was preceded by a press conference two days before, attended by about 40 journalists from newspapers, local and national TV's, press agencies and web news magazines. Hundreds of articles appeared in the following two days, advertising the 11 May Open Day. On May 11 the INGV headquarter was peacefully invaded by over 3,000 visitors from 9am to 9pm: families, students, civil protection groups and many journalists. The program included conferences on a wide variety of subjects (from social impact of rumors to seismic risk reduction) and distribution of books and brochures, in addition to several activities: meetings with INGV researchers to discuss scientific issues, visits to the seismic monitoring room (open 24h/7 all year), guided tours through interactive exhibitions on earthquakes and Earth's deep structure. During the same day, thirteen new videos have also been posted on our youtube/INGVterremoti channel to explain the earthquake process and hazard, and to provide real time periodic updates on seismicity in Italy. On May 11 no large earthquake happened in Italy. The initiative, built up in few weeks, had a very large feedback

Increased Earthquake Rates in the Central and Eastern US Portend Higher Earthquake Hazards

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Llenos, A. L.; Rubinstein, J. L.; Ellsworth, W. L.; Mueller, C. S.; Michael, A. J.; McGarr, A.; Petersen, M. D.; Weingarten, M.; Holland, A. A.

2014-12-01

Since 2009 the central and eastern United States has experienced an unprecedented increase in the rate of M≥3 earthquakes that is unlikely to be due to natural variation. Where the rates have increased so has the seismic hazard, making it important to understand these changes. Areas with significant seismicity increases are limited to areas where oil and gas production take place. By far the largest contributor to the seismicity increase is Oklahoma, where recent studies suggest that these rate changes may be due to fluid injection (e.g., Keranen et al., Geology, 2013; Science, 2014). Moreover, the area of increased seismicity in northern Oklahoma that began in 2013 coincides with the Mississippi Lime play, where well completions greatly increased the year before the seismicity increase. This suggests a link to oil and gas production either directly or from the disposal of significant amounts of produced water within the play. For the purpose of assessing the hazard due to these earthquakes, should they be treated differently from natural earthquakes? Previous studies suggest that induced seismicity may differ from natural seismicity in clustering characteristics or frequency-magnitude distributions (e.g., Bachmann et al., GJI, 2011; Llenos and Michael, BSSA, 2013). These differences could affect time-independent hazard computations, which typically assume that clustering and size distribution remain constant. In Oklahoma, as well as other areas of suspected induced seismicity, we find that earthquakes since 2009 tend to be considerably more clustered in space and time than before 2009. However differences between various regional and national catalogs leave unclear whether there are significant changes in magnitude distribution. Whether they are due to natural or industrial causes, the increased earthquake rates in these areas could increase the hazard in ways that are not accounted for in current hazard assessment practice. Clearly the possibility of induced

The Mw=8.8 Maule earthquake aftershock sequence, event catalog and locations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meltzer, A.; Benz, H.; Brown, L.; Russo, R. M.; Beck, S. L.; Roecker, S. W.

2011-12-01

The aftershock sequence of the Mw=8.8 Maule earthquake off the coast of Chile in February 2010 is one of the most well-recorded aftershock sequences from a great megathrust earthquake. Immediately following the Maule earthquake, teams of geophysicists from Chile, France, Germany, Great Britain and the United States coordinated resources to capture aftershocks and other seismic signals associated with this significant earthquake. In total, 91 broadband, 48 short period, and 25 accelerometers stations were deployed above the rupture zone of the main shock from 33-38.5°S and from the coast to the Andean range front. In order to integrate these data into a unified catalog, the USGS National Earthquake Information Center develop procedures to use their real-time seismic monitoring system (Bulletin Hydra) to detect, associate, location and compute earthquake source parameters from these stations. As a first step in the process, the USGS has built a seismic catalog of all M3.5 or larger earthquakes for the time period of the main aftershock deployment from March 2010-October 2010. The catalog includes earthquake locations, magnitudes (Ml, Mb, Mb_BB, Ms, Ms_BB, Ms_VX, Mc), associated phase readings and regional moment tensor solutions for most of the M4 or larger events. Also included in the catalog are teleseismic phases and amplitude measures and body-wave MT and CMT solutions for the larger events, typically M5.5 and larger. Tuning of automated detection and association parameters should allow a complete catalog of events to approximately M2.5 or larger for that dataset of more than 164 stations. We characterize the aftershock sequence in terms of magnitude, frequency, and location over time. Using the catalog locations and travel times as a starting point we use double difference techniques to investigate relative locations and earthquake clustering. In addition, phase data from candidate ground truth events and modeling of surface waves can be used to calibrate the

Limiting the Effects of Earthquake Shaking on Gravitational-Wave Interferometers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perry, M. R.; Earle, P. S.; Guy, M. R.; Harms, J.; Coughlin, M.; Biscans, S.; Buchanan, C.; Coughlin, E.; Fee, J.; Mukund, N.

2016-12-01

Second-generation ground-based gravitational wave interferometers such as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) are susceptible to high-amplitude waves from teleseismic events, which can cause astronomical detectors to fall out of mechanical lock (lockloss). This causes the data to be useless for gravitational wave detection around the time of the seismic arrivals and for several hours thereafter while the detector stabilizes enough to return to the locked state. The down time can be reduced if advance warning of impending shaking is received and the impact is suppressed in the isolation system with the goal of maintaining lock even at the expense of increased instrumental noise. Here we describe an early warning system for modern gravitational-wave observatories. The system relies on near real-time earthquake alerts provided by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Hypocenter and magnitude information is typically available within 5 to 20 minutes of the origin time of significant earthquakes, generally before the arrival of high-amplitude waves from these teleseisms at LIGO. These alerts are used to estimate arrival times and ground velocities at the gravitational wave detectors. In general, 94% of the predictions for ground-motion amplitude are within a factor of 5 of measured values. The error in both arrival time and ground-motion prediction introduced by using preliminary, rather than final, hypocenter and magnitude information is minimal with about 90% of the events falling within a factor of 2 of the final predicted value. By using a Machine Learning Algorithm, we develop a lockloss prediction model that calculates the probability that a given earthquake will prevent a detector from taking data. Our initial results indicate that by using detector control configuration changes, we could save lockloss from 40-100 earthquake events in a 6-month time-period.

Large Subduction Earthquake Simulations using Finite Source Modeling and the Offshore-Onshore Ambient Seismic Field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Viens, L.; Miyake, H.; Koketsu, K.

2016-12-01

Large subduction earthquakes have the potential to generate strong long-period ground motions. The ambient seismic field, also called seismic noise, contains information about the elastic response of the Earth between two seismic stations that can be retrieved using seismic interferometry. The DONET1 network, which is composed of 20 offshore stations, has been deployed atop the Nankai subduction zone, Japan, to continuously monitor the seismotectonic activity in this highly seismically active region. The surrounding onshore area is covered by hundreds of seismic stations, which are operated the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED) and the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), with a spacing of 15-20 km. We retrieve offshore-onshore Green's functions from the ambient seismic field using the deconvolution technique and use them to simulate the long-period ground motions of moderate subduction earthquakes that occurred at shallow depth. We extend the point source method, which is appropriate for moderate events, to finite source modeling to simulate the long-period ground motions of large Mw 7 class earthquake scenarios. The source models are constructed using scaling relations between moderate and large earthquakes to discretize the fault plane of the large hypothetical events into subfaults. Offshore-onshore Green's functions are spatially interpolated over the fault plane to obtain one Green's function for each subfault. The interpolated Green's functions are finally summed up considering different rupture velocities. Results show that this technique can provide additional information about earthquake ground motions that can be used with the existing physics-based simulations to improve seismic hazard assessment.

Rapid Estimates of Rupture Extent for Large Earthquakes Using Aftershocks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Polet, J.; Thio, H. K.; Kremer, M.

2009-12-01

of the rupture extent and dimensions, but not necessarily the strike. We found that using standard earthquake catalogs, such as the National Earthquake Information Center catalog, we can constrain the rupture extent, rupture direction, and in many cases the type of faulting, of the mainshock with the aftershocks that occur within the first hour after the mainshock. However, this data may not be currently available in near real-time. Since our results show that these early aftershock locations may be used to estimate first order rupture parameters for large global earthquakes, the near real-time availability of these data would be useful for fast earthquake damage assessment.

Constraints on recent earthquake source parameters, fault geometry and aftershock characteristics in Oklahoma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McNamara, D. E.; Benz, H.; Herrmann, R. B.; Bergman, E. A.; McMahon, N. D.; Aster, R. C.

2014-12-01

In late 2009, the seismicity of Oklahoma increased dramatically. The largest of these earthquakes was a series of three damaging events (Mw 4.8, 5.6, 4.8) that occurred over a span of four days in November 2011 near the town of Prague in central Oklahoma. Studies suggest that these earthquakes were induced by reactivation of the Wilzetta fault due to the disposal of waste water from hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") and other oil and gas activities. The Wilzetta fault is a northeast trending vertical strike-slip fault that is a well known structural trap for oil and gas. Since the November 2011 Prague sequence, thousands of small to moderate (M2-M4) earthquakes have occurred throughout central Oklahoma. The most active regions are located near the towns of Stillwater and Medford in north-central Oklahoma, and Guthrie, Langston and Jones near Oklahoma City. The USGS, in collaboration with the Oklahoma Geological Survey and the University of Oklahoma, has responded by deploying numerous temporary seismic stations in the region in order to record the vigorous aftershock sequences. In this study we use data from the temporary seismic stations to re-locate all Oklahoma earthquakes in the USGS National Earthquake Information Center catalog using a multiple-event approach known as hypo-centroidal decomposition that locates earthquakes with decreased uncertainty relative to one another. Modeling from this study allows us to constrain the detailed geometry of the reactivated faults, as well as source parameters (focal mechanisms, stress drop, rupture length) for the larger earthquakes. Preliminary results from the November 2011 Prague sequence suggest that subsurface rupture lengths of the largest earthquakes are anomalously long with very low stress drop. We also observe very high Q (~1000 at 1 Hz) that explains the large felt areas and we find relatively low b-value and a rapid decay of aftershocks.

A Report on Nursing Information During Volunteer Activities Conducted by Nursing Faculty Members and Students After the Great East Japan Earthquake.

PubMed

Tomizawa, Yayoi; Ichinose, Makino; Onogi, Hiroshi; Suzuki, Chiaki; Nakamura, Reiko; Misawa, Sumi

2016-01-01

A survey was conducted about nursing information in volunteer activities of nursing faculty members and students after the Great East Japan Earthquake. Results indicated that it was important to attempt collecting information in every possible way and to always be prepared. During activities, it is important to record information, to share information with individuals other than nursing professionals and to make good use of it.

Earthquakes

MedlinePlus

An earthquake happens when two blocks of the earth suddenly slip past one another. Earthquakes strike suddenly, violently, and without warning at any time of the day or night. If an earthquake occurs in a populated area, it may cause ...

Earthquake outlook for the San Francisco Bay region 2014–2043

USGS Publications Warehouse

Aagaard, Brad T.; Blair, James Luke; Boatwright, John; Garcia, Susan H.; Harris, Ruth A.; Michael, Andrew J.; Schwartz, David P.; DiLeo, Jeanne S.; Jacques, Kate; Donlin, Carolyn

2016-06-13

Using information from recent earthquakes, improved mapping of active faults, and a new model for estimating earthquake probabilities, the 2014 Working Group on California Earthquake Probabilities updated the 30-year earthquake forecast for California. They concluded that there is a 72 percent probability (or likelihood) of at least one earthquake of magnitude 6.7 or greater striking somewhere in the San Francisco Bay region before 2043. Earthquakes this large are capable of causing widespread damage; therefore, communities in the region should take simple steps to help reduce injuries, damage, and disruption, as well as accelerate recovery from these earthquakes.

New research and tools lead to improved earthquake alerting protocols

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wald, David J.

2009-01-01

What’s the best way to get alerted about the occurrence and potential impact of an earthquake? The answer to that question has changed dramatically of late, in part due to improvements in earthquake science, and in part by the implementation of new research in the delivery of earthquake information

Design and application of the emergency response mobile phone-based information system for infectious disease reporting in the Wenchuan earthquake zone.

PubMed

Ma, Jiaqi; Zhou, Maigeng; Li, Yanfei; Guo, Yan; Su, Xuemei; Qi, Xiaopeng; Ge, Hui

2009-05-01

To describe the design and application of an emergency response mobile phone-based information system for infectious disease reporting. Software engineering and business modeling were used to design and develop the emergency response mobile phone-based information system for infectious disease reporting. Seven days after the initiation of the reporting system, the reporting rate in the earthquake zone reached the level of the same period in 2007, using the mobile phone-based information system. Surveillance of the weekly report on morbidity in the earthquake zone after the initiation of the mobile phone reporting system showed the same trend as the previous three years. The emergency response mobile phone-based information system for infectious disease reporting was an effective solution to transmit urgently needed reports and manage communicable disease surveillance information. This assured the consistency of disease surveillance and facilitated sensitive, accurate, and timely disease surveillance. It is an important backup for the internet-based direct reporting system for communicable disease. © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd and Chinese Cochrane Center, West China Hospital of Sichuan University.

Geomorphic legacy of medieval Himalayan earthquakes in the Pokhara Valley

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwanghart, Wolfgang; Bernhardt, Anne; Stolle, Amelie; Hoelzmann, Philipp; Adhikari, Basanta R.; Andermann, Christoff; Tofelde, Stefanie; Merchel, Silke; Rugel, Georg; Fort, Monique; Korup, Oliver

2016-04-01

The Himalayas and their foreland belong to the world's most earthquake-prone regions. With millions of people at risk from severe ground shaking and associated damages, reliable data on the spatial and temporal occurrence of past major earthquakes is urgently needed to inform seismic risk analysis. Beyond the instrumental record such information has been largely based on historical accounts and trench studies. Written records provide evidence for damages and fatalities, yet are difficult to interpret when derived from the far-field. Trench studies, in turn, offer information on rupture histories, lengths and displacements along faults but involve high chronological uncertainties and fail to record earthquakes that do not rupture the surface. Thus, additional and independent information is required for developing reliable earthquake histories. Here, we present exceptionally well-dated evidence of catastrophic valley infill in the Pokhara Valley, Nepal. Bayesian calibration of radiocarbon dates from peat beds, plant macrofossils, and humic silts in fine-grained tributary sediments yields a robust age distribution that matches the timing of nearby M>8 earthquakes in ~1100, 1255, and 1344 AD. The upstream dip of tributary valley fills and X-ray fluorescence spectrometry of their provenance rule out local sediment sources. Instead, geomorphic and sedimentary evidence is consistent with catastrophic fluvial aggradation and debris flows that had plugged several tributaries with tens of meters of calcareous sediment from the Annapurna Massif >60 km away. The landscape-changing consequences of past large Himalayan earthquakes have so far been elusive. Catastrophic aggradation in the wake of two historically documented medieval earthquakes and one inferred from trench studies underscores that Himalayan valley fills should be considered as potential archives of past earthquakes. Such valley fills are pervasive in the Lesser Himalaya though high erosion rates reduce

Protecting Your Family From Earthquakes-The Seven Steps to Earthquake Safety (in Spanish and English)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Developed by American Red Cross, Asian Pacific Fund

2007-01-01

This book is provided here to share an important message on emergency preparedness. Historically, we have suffered earthquakes here in the San Francisco Bay Area that have caused severe hardship for residents and incredible damage to our cities. It is likely we will experience a severe earthquake within the next 30 years. Many of us come from other countries where we have experienced earth- quakes, so we believe that we understand them. However, the way we prepare for earthquakes in our home country may be different from the way it is necessary to prepare for earthquakes here. Very f w people die from collapsing buildings in the Bay Area because most structures are built to stand up to the shaking. But it is quite possible that your family will be without medical care or grocery stores and separated from one another for several days to weeks. It will ultimately be up to you to keep your family safe until help arrives, so we are asking you to join us in learning to take care of your family before, during, and after an earthquake. The first step is to read this book. Everyone in your family, children and adults, can learn how to prepare for an earthquake. Then take advantage of the American Red Cross Earthquake Preparedness training courses offered in your community. These preparedness courses are free, and also offered in Spanish and available to everyone in the community regardless of family history, leg al status, gender, or age. We encourage you to take one of these free training workshops. Look on the back cover for more information. Remember that an earthquake can occur without warning, and the only way that we can reduce the harm caused by earthquakes is to be prepared. Get Prepared!

Earthquake Protection Measures for People with Disabilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gountromichou, C.; Kourou, A.; Kerpelis, P.

2009-04-01

The problem of seismic safety for people with disabilities not only exists but is also urgent and of primary importance. Working towards disability equality, Earthquake Planning and Protection Organization of Greece (E.P.P.O.) has developed an educational scheme for people with disabilities in order to guide them to develop skills to protect themselves as well as to take the appropriate safety measures before, during and after an earthquake. The framework of this initiative includes a number of actions have been already undertaken, including the following: a. Recently, the main guidelines have been published to help people who have physical, cognitive, visual, or auditory disabilities to cope with a destructive earthquake. Of great importance, in case of people with disabilities, is to be prepared for the disaster, with several measures that must be taken starting today. In the pre-earthquake period, it is important that these people, in addition to other measures, do the following: - Create a Personal Support Network The Personal Support Network should be a group of at least three trustful people that can assist the disabled person to prepare for a disastrous event and to recover after it. - Complete a Personal Assessment The environment may change after a destructive earthquake. People with disabilities are encouraged to make a list of their personal needs and their resources for meeting them in a disaster environment. b. Lectures and training seminars on earthquake protection are given for students, teachers and educators in Special Schools for disabled people, mainly for informing and familiarizing them with earthquakes and with safety measures. c. Many earthquake drills have already taken place, for each disability, in order to share good practices and lessons learned to further disaster reduction and to identify gaps and challenges. The final aim of this action is all people with disabilities to be well informed and motivated towards a culture of earthquake

Engineering geological aspect of Gorkha Earthquake 2015, Nepal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adhikari, Basanta Raj; Andermann, Christoff; Cook, Kristen

2016-04-01

Strong shaking by earthquake causes massif landsliding with severe effects on infrastructure and human lives. The distribution of landslides and other hazards are depending on the combination of earthquake and local characteristics which influence the dynamic response of hillslopes. The Himalayas are one of the most active mountain belts with several kilometers of relief and is very prone to catastrophic mass failure. Strong and shallow earthquakes are very common and cause wide spread collapse of hillslopes, increasing the background landslide rate by several magnitude. The Himalaya is facing many small and large earthquakes in the past i.e. earthquakes i.e. Bihar-Nepal earthquake 1934 (Ms 8.2); Large Kangra earthquake of 1905 (Ms 7.8); Gorkha earthquake 2015 (Mw 7.8). The Mw 7.9 Gorkha earthquake has occurred on and around the main Himalayan Thrust with a hypocentral depth of 15 km (GEER 2015) followed by Mw 7.3 aftershock in Kodari causing 8700+ deaths and leaving hundreds of thousands of homeless. Most of the 3000 aftershocks located by National Seismological Center (NSC) within the first 45 days following the Gorkha Earthquake are concentrated in a narrow 40 km-wide band at midcrustal to shallow depth along the strike of the southern slope of the high Himalaya (Adhikari et al. 2015) and the ground shaking was substantially lower in the short-period range than would be expected for and earthquake of this magnitude (Moss et al. 2015). The effect of this earthquake is very unique in affected areas by showing topographic effect, liquefaction and land subsidence. More than 5000 landslides were triggered by this earthquake (Earthquake without Frontiers, 2015). Most of the landslides are shallow and occurred in weathered bedrock and appear to have mobilized primarily as raveling failures, rock slides and rock falls. Majority of landslides are limited to a zone which runs east-west, approximately parallel the lesser and higher Himalaya. There are numerous cracks in

Correlating precursory declines in groundwater radon with earthquake magnitude.

PubMed

Kuo, T

2014-01-01

Both studies at the Antung hot spring in eastern Taiwan and at the Paihe spring in southern Taiwan confirm that groundwater radon can be a consistent tracer for strain changes in the crust preceding an earthquake when observed in a low-porosity fractured aquifer surrounded by a ductile formation. Recurrent anomalous declines in groundwater radon were observed at the Antung D1 monitoring well in eastern Taiwan prior to the five earthquakes of magnitude (Mw ): 6.8, 6.1, 5.9, 5.4, and 5.0 that occurred on December 10, 2003; April 1, 2006; April 15, 2006; February 17, 2008; and July 12, 2011, respectively. For earthquakes occurring on the longitudinal valley fault in eastern Taiwan, the observed radon minima decrease as the earthquake magnitude increases. The above correlation has been proven to be useful for early warning local large earthquakes. In southern Taiwan, radon anomalous declines prior to the 2010 Mw 6.3 Jiasian, 2012 Mw 5.9 Wutai, and 2012 ML 5.4 Kaohsiung earthquakes were also recorded at the Paihe spring. For earthquakes occurring on different faults in southern Taiwan, the correlation between the observed radon minima and the earthquake magnitude is not yet possible. © 2013, National Ground Water Association.

Information science and technology developments within the National Biological Information Infrastructure

USGS Publications Warehouse

Frame, M.T.; Cotter, G.; Zolly, L.; Little, J.

2002-01-01

Whether your vantage point is that of an office window or a national park, your view undoubtedly encompasses a rich diversity of life forms, all carefully studied or managed by some scientist, resource manager, or planner. A few simple calculations - the number of species, their interrelationships, and the many researchers studying them - and you can easily see the tremendous challenges that the resulting biological data presents to the information and computer science communities. Biological information varies in format and content: it may pertain to a particular species or an entire ecosystem; it can contain land use characteristics, and geospatially referenced information. The complexity and uniqueness of each individual species or ecosystem do not easily lend themselves to today's computer science tools and applications. To address the challenges that the biological enterprise presents, the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) (http://www.nbii.gov) was established in 1993 on the recommendation of the National Research Council (National Research Council 1993). The NBII is designed to address these issues on a national scale, and through international partnerships. This paper discusses current information and computer science efforts within the National Biological Information Infrastructure Program, and future computer science research endeavors that are needed to address the ever-growing issues related to our nation's biological concerns. ?? 2003 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.

Making the Handoff from Earthquake Hazard Assessments to Effective Mitigation Measures (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Applegate, D.

2010-12-01

This year has witnessed a barrage of large earthquakes worldwide with the resulting damages ranging from inconsequential to truly catastrophic. We cannot predict when earthquakes will strike, but we can build communities that are resilient to strong shaking as well as to secondary hazards such as landslides and liquefaction. The contrasting impacts of the magnitude-7 earthquake that struck Haiti in January and the magnitude-8.8 event that struck Chile in April underscore the difference that mitigation and preparedness can make. In both cases, millions of people were exposed to severe shaking, but deaths in Chile were measured in the hundreds rather than the hundreds of thousands that perished in Haiti. Numerous factors contributed to these disparate outcomes, but the most significant is the presence of strong building codes in Chile and their total absence in Haiti. The financial cost of the Chilean earthquake still represents an unacceptably high percentage of that nation’s gross domestic product, a reminder that life safety is the paramount, but not the only, goal of disaster risk reduction measures. For building codes to be effective, both in terms of lives saved and economic cost, they need to reflect the hazard as accurately as possible. As one of four federal agencies that make up the congressionally mandated National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) develops national seismic hazard maps that form the basis for seismic provisions in model building codes through the Federal Emergency Management Agency and private-sector practitioners. This cooperation is central to NEHRP, which both fosters earthquake research and establishes pathways to translate research results into implementation measures. That translation depends on the ability of hazard-focused scientists to interact and develop mutual trust with risk-focused engineers and planners. Strengthening that interaction is an opportunity for the next generation

Did you feel it? : citizens contribute to earthquake science

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wald, David J.; Dewey, James W.

2005-01-01

Since the early 1990s, the magnitude and location of an earthquake have been available within minutes on the Internet. Now, as a result of work by the U.S. Geological Survey and with the cooperation of various regional seismic networks, people who experience an earthquake can go online and share information about its effects to help create a map of shaking intensities and damage. Such “Community Internet Intensity Maps” (CIIMs) contribute greatly toward the quick assessment of the scope of an earthquake emergency and provide valuable data for earthquake research.

The Gujarat Earthquake: Mitigations Failures and Lessons learnt for Future Strategies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Katuri, A. K.; Mittal, J.; Kumar, K.

for speedy rescue and relief operations needs to be in place with improved information system for post disaster recovery. This paper draws upon the shortfalls faced in the management of Gujarat earthquake; a lesson learnt and presents a comprehensive strategy for Systems networking including the role of space programs in disaster management. The proposed structure is a top down approach for cooperation, emerging from bottom level demand. The missing key elements in the post-disaster situation were - effective information system, high resolution remote sensing data (for effective town planning), operational GIS, with support network from some or all of the governmental agencies. An integrated global communication network for wider dissemination of forecasts, warning and monitoring on a global level and sharing of related knowledge and information can play a vital role in disaster reduction. Needless to say, the local, regional and national disaster communication networks must be fully integrated in the global grid. The proposed structure for disaster management has a National Disaster Mitigation Establishment (NDME) as the apex body under the auspices of the central government, which would be networked across nations to similar other NDMEs. Each NDME would handle the coordination and monitoring of its state units which may be called as State Disaster Management Establishments (SDME). The SDMEs with various district or sub-district level units would collate data. The Network would be supported with field staff at its offices and would liaison with respective higher level DMEs where the lowest unit may be a village / town or cluster of villages. This paper emphasizes the need for comprehensive information system with Spatial Decision Support System (DSS) at three different levels for total disaster management.

Mapping seismic intensity using twitter data; A Case study: The February 26th, 2014 M5.9 Kefallinia (Greece) earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arapostathis, Stathis; Parcharidis, Isaak; Kalogeras, Ioannis; Drakatos, George

2015-04-01

In this paper we present an innovative approach for the development of seismic intensity maps in minimum time frame. As case study, a recent earthquake that occurred in Western Greece (Kefallinia Island, on February 26, 2014) is used. The magnitude of the earthquake was M=5.9 (Institute of Geodynamics - National Observatory of Athens). Earthquake's effects comprising damages in property and changes of the physical environment in the area. The innovative part of this research is that we use crowdsourcing as a source to assess macroseismic intensity information, coming out from twitter content. Twitter as a social media service with micro-blogging characteristics, a semantic structure which allows the storage of spatial content, and a high volume production of user generated content is a suitable source to obtain and extract knowledge related to macroseismic intensity in different geographic areas and in short time periods. Moreover the speed in which twitter content is generated affects us to have accurate results only a few hours after the occurrence of the earthquake. The method used in order to extract, evaluate and map the intensity related information is described in brief in this paper. At first, we pick out all the tweets that have been posted within the first 48 hours, including information related to intensity and refer to a geographic location. The geo-referencing of these tweets and their association with an intensity grade according to the European Macroseismic Scale (EMS98) based on the information they contain in text followed. Finally, we apply various spatial statistics and GIS methods, and we interpolate the values to cover all the appropriate geographic areas. The final output contains macroseismic intensity maps for the Lixouri area (Kefallinia Island), produced from twitter data that have been posted in the first six, twelve, twenty four and forty eight hours after the earthquake occurrence. Results are compared with other intensity maps for same

Listening to data from the 2011 magnitude 9.0 Tohoku-Oki, Japan, earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Z.; Aiken, C.; Kilb, D. L.; Shelly, D. R.; Enescu, B.

2011-12-01

It is important for seismologists to effectively convey information about catastrophic earthquakes, such as the magnitude 9.0 earthquake in Tohoku-Oki, Japan, to general audience who may not necessarily be well-versed in the language of earthquake seismology. Given recent technological advances, previous approaches of using "snapshot" static images to represent earthquake data is now becoming obsolete, and the favored venue to explain complex wave propagation inside the solid earth and interactions among earthquakes is now visualizations that include auditory information. Here, we convert seismic data into visualizations that include sounds, the latter being a term known as 'audification', or continuous 'sonification'. By combining seismic auditory and visual information, static "snapshots" of earthquake data come to life, allowing pitch and amplitude changes to be heard in sync with viewed frequency changes in the seismograms and associated spectragrams. In addition, these visual and auditory media allow the viewer to relate earthquake generated seismic signals to familiar sounds such as thunder, popcorn popping, rattlesnakes, firecrackers, etc. We present a free software package that uses simple MATLAB tools and Apple Inc's QuickTime Pro to automatically convert seismic data into auditory movies. We focus on examples of seismic data from the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake. These examples range from near-field strong motion recordings that demonstrate the complex source process of the mainshock and early aftershocks, to far-field broadband recordings that capture remotely triggered deep tremor and shallow earthquakes. We envision audification of seismic data, which is geared toward a broad range of audiences, will be increasingly used to convey information about notable earthquakes and research frontiers in earthquake seismology (tremor, dynamic triggering, etc). Our overarching goal is that sharing our new visualization tool will foster an interest in seismology, not

GLASS 2.0: An Operational, Multimodal, Bayesian Earthquake Data Association Engine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benz, H.; Johnson, C. E.; Patton, J. M.; McMahon, N. D.; Earle, P. S.

2015-12-01

The legacy approach to automated detection and determination of hypocenters is arrival time stacking algorithms. Examples of such algorithms are the associator, Binder, which has been in continuous use in many USGS-supported regional seismic networks since the 1980s and the spherical earth successor, GLASS 1.0, currently in service at the USGS National Earthquake Information Center for over 10 years. The principle short-comings of the legacy approach are 1) it can only use phase arrival times, 2) it does not adequately address the problems of extreme variations in station density worldwide, 3) it cannot incorporate multiple phase models or statistical attributes of phases with distance, and 4) it cannot incorporate noise model attributes of individual stations. Previously we introduced a theoretical framework of a new associator using a Bayesian kernel stacking approach to approximate a joint probability density function for hypocenter localization. More recently we added station- and phase-specific Bayesian constraints to the association process. GLASS 2.0 incorporates a multiplicity of earthquake related data including phase arrival times, back-azimuth and slowness information from array beamforming, arrival times from waveform cross correlation processing, and geographic constraints from real-time social media reports of ground shaking. We demonstrate its application by modeling an aftershock sequence using dozens of stations that recorded tens of thousands of earthquakes over a period of one month. We also demonstrate Glass 2.0 performance regionally and teleseismically using the globally distributed real-time monitoring system at NEIC.

PAGER-CAT: A composite earthquake catalog for calibrating global fatality models

USGS Publications Warehouse

Allen, T.I.; Marano, K.D.; Earle, P.S.; Wald, D.J.

2009-01-01

We have described the compilation and contents of PAGER-CAT, an earthquake catalog developed principally for calibrating earthquake fatality models. It brings together information from a range of sources in a comprehensive, easy to use digital format. Earthquake source information (e.g., origin time, hypocenter, and magnitude) contained in PAGER-CAT has been used to develop an Atlas of Shake Maps of historical earthquakes (Allen et al. 2008) that can subsequently be used to estimate the population exposed to various levels of ground shaking (Wald et al. 2008). These measures will ultimately yield improved earthquake loss models employing the uniform hazard mapping methods of ShakeMap. Currently PAGER-CAT does not consistently contain indicators of landslide and liquefaction occurrence prior to 1973. In future PAGER-CAT releases we plan to better document the incidence of these secondary hazards. This information is contained in some existing global catalogs but is far from complete and often difficult to parse. Landslide and liquefaction hazards can be important factors contributing to earthquake losses (e.g., Marano et al. unpublished). Consequently, the absence of secondary hazard indicators in PAGER-CAT, particularly for events prior to 1973, could be misleading to sorne users concerned with ground-shaking-related losses. We have applied our best judgment in the selection of PAGER-CAT's preferred source parameters and earthquake effects. We acknowledge the creation of a composite catalog always requires subjective decisions, but we believe PAGER-CAT represents a significant step forward in bringing together the best available estimates of earthquake source parameters and reports of earthquake effects. All information considered in PAGER-CAT is stored as provided in its native catalog so that other users can modify PAGER preferred parameters based on their specific needs or opinions. As with all catalogs, the values of some parameters listed in PAGER-CAT are

Real-time earthquake shake, damage, and loss mapping for Istanbul metropolitan area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zülfikar, A. Can; Fercan, N. Özge Zülfikar; Tunç, Süleyman; Erdik, Mustafa

2017-01-01

The past devastating earthquakes in densely populated urban centers, such as the 1994 Northridge; 1995 Kobe; 1999 series of Kocaeli, Düzce, and Athens; and 2011 Van-Erciş events, showed that substantial social and economic losses can be expected. Previous studies indicate that inadequate emergency response can increase the number of casualties by a maximum factor of 10, which suggests the need for research on rapid earthquake shaking damage and loss estimation. The reduction in casualties in urban areas immediately following an earthquake can be improved if the location and severity of damages can be rapidly assessed by information from rapid response systems. In this context, a research project (TUBITAK-109M734) titled "Real-time Information of Earthquake Shaking, Damage, and Losses for Target Cities of Thessaloniki and Istanbul" was conducted during 2011-2014 to establish the rapid estimation of ground motion shaking and related earthquake damages and casualties for the target cities. In the present study, application to Istanbul metropolitan area is presented. In order to fulfill this objective, earthquake hazard and risk assessment methodology known as Earthquake Loss Estimation Routine, which was developed for the Euro-Mediterranean region within the Network of Research Infrastructures for European Seismology EC-FP6 project, was used. The current application to the Istanbul metropolitan area provides real-time ground motion information obtained by strong motion stations distributed throughout the densely populated areas of the city. According to this ground motion information, building damage estimation is computed by using grid-based building inventory, and the related loss is then estimated. Through this application, the rapidly estimated information enables public and private emergency management authorities to take action and allocate and prioritize resources to minimize the casualties in urban areas during immediate post-earthquake periods. Moreover, it

The 1868 Hayward Earthquake Alliance: A Case Study - Using an Earthquake Anniversary to Promote Earthquake Preparedness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brocher, T. M.; Garcia, S.; Aagaard, B. T.; Boatwright, J. J.; Dawson, T.; Hellweg, M.; Knudsen, K. L.; Perkins, J.; Schwartz, D. P.; Stoffer, P. W.; Zoback, M.

2008-12-01

Last October 21st marked the 140th anniversary of the M6.8 1868 Hayward Earthquake, the last damaging earthquake on the southern Hayward Fault. This anniversary was used to help publicize the seismic hazards associated with the fault because: (1) the past five such earthquakes on the Hayward Fault occurred about 140 years apart on average, and (2) the Hayward-Rodgers Creek Fault system is the most likely (with a 31 percent probability) fault in the Bay Area to produce a M6.7 or greater earthquake in the next 30 years. To promote earthquake awareness and preparedness, over 140 public and private agencies and companies and many individual joined the public-private nonprofit 1868 Hayward Earthquake Alliance (1868alliance.org). The Alliance sponsored many activities including a public commemoration at Mission San Jose in Fremont, which survived the 1868 earthquake. This event was followed by an earthquake drill at Bay Area schools involving more than 70,000 students. The anniversary prompted the Silver Sentinel, an earthquake response exercise based on the scenario of an earthquake on the Hayward Fault conducted by Bay Area County Offices of Emergency Services. 60 other public and private agencies also participated in this exercise. The California Seismic Safety Commission and KPIX (CBS affiliate) produced professional videos designed forschool classrooms promoting Drop, Cover, and Hold On. Starting in October 2007, the Alliance and the U.S. Geological Survey held a sequence of press conferences to announce the release of new research on the Hayward Fault as well as new loss estimates for a Hayward Fault earthquake. These included: (1) a ShakeMap for the 1868 Hayward earthquake, (2) a report by the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasting the number of employees, employers, and wages predicted to be within areas most strongly shaken by a Hayward Fault earthquake, (3) new estimates of the losses associated with a Hayward Fault earthquake, (4) new ground motion

Operational Earthquake Forecasting and Decision-Making in a Low-Probability Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jordan, T. H.; the International Commission on Earthquake ForecastingCivil Protection

2011-12-01

Operational earthquake forecasting (OEF) is the dissemination of authoritative information about the time dependence of seismic hazards to help communities prepare for potentially destructive earthquakes. Most previous work on the public utility of OEF has anticipated that forecasts would deliver high probabilities of large earthquakes; i.e., deterministic predictions with low error rates (false alarms and failures-to-predict) would be possible. This expectation has not been realized. An alternative to deterministic prediction is probabilistic forecasting based on empirical statistical models of aftershock triggering and seismic clustering. During periods of high seismic activity, short-term earthquake forecasts can attain prospective probability gains in excess of 100 relative to long-term forecasts. The utility of such information is by no means clear, however, because even with hundredfold increases, the probabilities of large earthquakes typically remain small, rarely exceeding a few percent over forecasting intervals of days or weeks. Civil protection agencies have been understandably cautious in implementing OEF in this sort of "low-probability environment." The need to move more quickly has been underscored by recent seismic crises, such as the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake sequence, in which an anxious public was confused by informal and inaccurate earthquake predictions. After the L'Aquila earthquake, the Italian Department of Civil Protection appointed an International Commission on Earthquake Forecasting (ICEF), which I chaired, to recommend guidelines for OEF utilization. Our report (Ann. Geophys., 54, 4, 2011; doi: 10.4401/ag-5350) concludes: (a) Public sources of information on short-term probabilities should be authoritative, scientific, open, and timely, and need to convey epistemic uncertainties. (b) Earthquake probabilities should be based on operationally qualified, regularly updated forecasting systems. (c) All operational models should be evaluated

POST Earthquake Debris Management — AN Overview

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sarkar, Raju

Every year natural disasters, such as fires, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, landslides, tsunami, and tornadoes, challenge various communities of the world. Earthquakes strike with varying degrees of severity and pose both short- and long-term challenges to public service providers. Earthquakes generate shock waves and displace the ground along fault lines. These seismic forces can bring down buildings and bridges in a localized area and damage buildings and other structures in a far wider area. Secondary damage from fires, explosions, and localized flooding from broken water pipes can increase the amount of debris. Earthquake debris includes building materials, personal property, and sediment from landslides. The management of this debris, as well as the waste generated during the reconstruction works, can place significant challenges on the national and local capacities. Debris removal is a major component of every post earthquake recovery operation. Much of the debris generated from earthquake is not hazardous. Soil, building material, and green waste, such as trees and shrubs, make up most of the volume of earthquake debris. These wastes not only create significant health problems and a very unpleasant living environment if not disposed of safely and appropriately, but also can subsequently impose economical burdens on the reconstruction phase. In practice, most of the debris may be either disposed of at landfill sites, reused as materials for construction or recycled into useful commodities Therefore, the debris clearance operation should focus on the geotechnical engineering approach as an important post earthquake issue to control the quality of the incoming flow of potential soil materials. In this paper, the importance of an emergency management perspective in this geotechnical approach that takes into account the different criteria related to the operation execution is proposed by highlighting the key issues concerning the handling of the construction

The earthquake disaster risk characteristic and the problem in the earthquake emergency rescue of mountainous southwestern Sichuan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, S.; Xin, C.; Ying, Z.

2016-12-01

In recent years, earthquake disaster occurred frequently in Chinese mainland, the secondary disaster which have been caused by it is more serious in mountainous region. Because of the influence of terrain and geological conditions, the difficulty of earthquake emergency rescue work greatly increased, rescue force is also urged. Yet, it has been studied less on earthquake emergency rescue in mountainous region, the research in existing equipment whether can meet the actual needs of local earthquake emergency rescue is poorly. This paper intends to discuss and solve these problems. Through the mountainous regions Ganzi and Liangshan states in Sichuan field research, we investigated the process of earthquake emergency response and the projects for rescue force after an earthquake, and we also collected and collated local rescue force based data. By consulting experts and statistical analyzing the basic data, there are mainly two problems: The first is about local rescue force, they are poorly equipped and lack in the knowledge of medical help or identify architectural structure. There are no countries to establish a sound financial investment protection mechanism. Also, rescue equipment's updates and maintenance; The second problem is in earthquake emergency rescue progress. In the complicated geologic structure of mountainous regions, traffic and communication may be interrupted by landslides and mud-rock flows after earthquake. The outside rescue force may not arrive in time, rescue equipment was transported by manpower. Because of unknown earthquake disaster information, the local rescue force was deployed unreasonable. From the above, the local government worker should analyze the characteristics of the earthquake disaster in mountainous regions, and research how to improve their earthquake emergency rescue ability. We think they can do that by strengthening and regulating the rescue force structure, enhancing the skills and knowledge, training rescue workers

Earthquake Advisory Services: A prototype development project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lagorio, H. J.; Levin, H.

1980-10-01

Development of the prototype Earthquake Advisory Service (EAS) is reported. The EAS is designed to provide direct technical assistance and written materials to advise people who wish to make informed decisions about earthquake hazard reduction in their residences. It is intended also to be adapted to local conditions by community-based agencies. The EAS prototype involved the testing of early assumptions about program implementation, establishment of a systematic methodology review process, and a review of published information pertinent to the project. Operational procedures of the program and the process leading to implementation guidelines are described.

Quantification of social contributions to earthquake mortality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Main, I. G.; NicBhloscaidh, M.; McCloskey, J.; Pelling, M.; Naylor, M.

2013-12-01

Death tolls in earthquakes, which continue to grow rapidly, are the result of complex interactions between physical effects, such as strong shaking, and the resilience of exposed populations and supporting critical infrastructures and institutions. While it is clear that the social context in which the earthquake occurs has a strong effect on the outcome, the influence of this context can only be exposed if we first decouple, as much as we can, the physical causes of mortality from our consideration. (Our modelling assumes that building resilience to shaking is a social factor governed by national wealth, legislation and enforcement and governance leading to reduced levels of corruption.) Here we attempt to remove these causes by statistically modelling published mortality, shaking intensity and population exposure data; unexplained variance from this physical model illuminates the contribution of socio-economic factors to increasing earthquake mortality. We find that this variance partitions countries in terms of basic socio-economic measures and allows the definition of a national vulnerability index identifying both anomalously resilient and anomalously vulnerable countries. In many cases resilience is well correlated with GDP; people in the richest countries are unsurprisingly safe from even the worst shaking. However some low-GDP countries rival even the richest in resilience, showing that relatively low cost interventions can have a positive impact on earthquake resilience and that social learning between these countries might facilitate resilience building in the absence of expensive engineering interventions.

NATIONAL CARTOGRAPHIC INFORMATION CENTER: AN INFORMATION RESOURCE ON MAPPING PRODUCTS FOR THE NATION.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stevens, Alan R.

1985-01-01

Since its inception in 1974 the National Cartographic Information Center (NCIC), US Geological Survey, has rapidly developed to become a focal point for providing information on the availability of cartographic data, including maps/charts, aerial photographs, satellite imagery, geodetic control, digital mapping data, map materials and related cartographic products. In early years NCIC concentrated its efforts on encoding and entering several major National Mapping Division record collections into its systems. NCIC is now stressing the acquisition of data from sources outside the National Mapping Division, including 37 Federal agencies and more than a thousand State and private institutions. A critical review has recently been conducted by NCIC of its systems with the aim of improving its efficiency and levels of operation. Several activities which resulted include improving its existing networks, refinement of digital data distribution, study of new storage media and related projects.

Earthquakes in the Central United States, 1699-2010

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dart, Richard L.; Volpi, Christina M.

2010-01-01

This publication is an update of an earlier report, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Geologic Investigation I-2812 by Wheeler and others (2003), titled ?Earthquakes in the Central United States-1699-2002.? Like the original poster, the center of the updated poster is a map showing the pattern of earthquake locations in the most seismically active part of the central United States. Arrayed around the map are short explanatory texts and graphics, which describe the distribution of historical earthquakes and the effects of the most notable of them. The updated poster contains additional, post 2002, earthquake data. These are 38 earthquakes covering the time interval from January 2003 to June 2010, including the Mount Carmel, Illinois, earthquake of 2008. The USGS Preliminary Determination of Epicenters (PDE) was the source of these additional data. Like the I-2812 poster, this poster was prepared for a nontechnical audience and designed to inform the general public as to the widespread occurrence of felt and damaging earthquakes in the Central United States. Accordingly, the poster should not be used to assess earthquake hazard in small areas or at individual locations.

Rapid Earthquake Magnitude Estimation for Early Warning Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goldberg, Dara; Bock, Yehuda; Melgar, Diego

2017-04-01

Earthquake magnitude is a concise metric that provides invaluable information about the destructive potential of a seismic event. Rapid estimation of magnitude for earthquake and tsunami early warning purposes requires reliance on near-field instrumentation. For large magnitude events, ground motions can exceed the dynamic range of near-field broadband seismic instrumentation (clipping). Strong motion accelerometers are designed with low gains to better capture strong shaking. Estimating earthquake magnitude rapidly from near-source strong-motion data requires integration of acceleration waveforms to displacement. However, integration amplifies small errors, creating unphysical drift that must be eliminated with a high pass filter. The loss of the long period information due to filtering is an impediment to magnitude estimation in real-time; the relation between ground motion measured with strong-motion instrumentation and magnitude saturates, leading to underestimation of earthquake magnitude. Using station displacements from Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) observations, we can supplement the high frequency information recorded by traditional seismic systems with long-period observations to better inform rapid response. Unlike seismic-only instrumentation, ground motions measured with GNSS scale with magnitude without saturation [Crowell et al., 2013; Melgar et al., 2015]. We refine the current magnitude scaling relations using peak ground displacement (PGD) by adding a large GNSS dataset of earthquakes in Japan. Because it does not suffer from saturation, GNSS alone has significant advantages over seismic-only instrumentation for rapid magnitude estimation of large events. The earthquake's magnitude can be estimated within 2-3 minutes of earthquake onset time [Melgar et al., 2013]. We demonstrate that seismogeodesy, the optimal combination of GNSS and seismic data at collocated stations, provides the added benefit of improving the sensitivity of

Development of regional earthquake early warning and structural health monitoring system and real-time ground motion forecasting using front-site waveform data (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Motosaka, M.

2009-12-01

This paper presents firstly, the development of an integrated regional earthquake early warning (EEW) system having on-line structural health monitoring (SHM) function, in Miyagi prefecture, Japan. The system makes it possible to provide more accurate, reliable and immediate earthquake information for society by combining the national (JMA/NIED) EEW system, based on advanced real-time communication technology. The author has planned to install the EEW/SHM system to the public buildings around Sendai, a million city of north-eastern Japan. The system has been so far implemented in two buildings; one is in Sendai, and the other in Oshika, a front site on the Pacific Ocean coast for the approaching Miyagi-ken Oki earthquake. The data from the front-site and the on-site are processed by the analysis system which was installed at the analysis center of Disaster Control Research Center, Tohoku University. The real-time earthquake information from JMA is also received at the analysis center. The utilization of the integrated EEW/SHM system is addressed together with future perspectives. Examples of the obtained data are also described including the amplitude depending dynamic characteristics of the building in Sendai before, during, and after the 2008/6/14 Iwate-Miyagi Nairiku Earthquake, together with the historical change of dynamic characteristics for 40 years. Secondary, this paper presents an advanced methodology based on Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) for forward forecasting of ground motion parameters, not only PGA, PGV, but also Spectral information before S-wave arrival using initial part of P-waveform at a front site. The estimated ground motion information can be used as warning alarm for earthquake damage reduction. The Fourier Amplitude Spectra (FAS) estimated before strong shaking with high accuracy can be used for advanced engineering applications, e.g. feed-forward structural control of a building of interest. The validity and applicability of the method

NASA-Produced Maps Help Gauge Italy Earthquake Damage

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-10-05

A NASA-funded program provided valuable information for responders and groups supporting the recovery efforts for the Aug. 24, 2016, magnitude 6.2 earthquake that struck central Italy. The earthquake caused significant loss of life and property damage in the town of Amatrice. To assist in the disaster response efforts, scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Caltech, both in Pasadena, California, obtained and used radar imagery of the earthquake's hardest-hit region to discriminate areas of damage from that event. The views indicate the extent of damage caused by the earthquake and subsequent aftershocks in and around Amatrice, based on changes to the ground surface detected by radar. The color variations from yellow to red indicate increasingly more significant ground surface change. The damage maps were created from data obtained before and after the earthquake by satellites belonging to the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The radar-derived damage maps compare well with a damage map produced by the European Commission Copernicus Emergency Management Service based upon visual inspection of high-resolution pre-earthquake aerial photographs and post-earthquake satellite optical imagery, and provide broader geographic coverage of the earthquake's impact in the region. The X-band COSMO-SkyMed (CSK) data were provided through a research collaboration with ASI and were acquired on July 3, August 20, and August 28, 2016. The L-band ALOS/PALSAR-2 data were provided by JAXA through its science research program and were acquired on September 9, 2015, January 27, 2016, and August 24, 2016. The radar data were processed by the Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis (ARIA) team at JPL and Caltech. ARIA is a NASA-funded project that is building an automated system for demonstrating the ability to rapidly and reliably provide GPS and satellite data to support the local, national and international hazard monitoring and

Predicted Surface Displacements for Scenario Earthquakes in the San Francisco Bay Region

USGS Publications Warehouse

Murray-Moraleda, Jessica R.

2008-01-01

In the immediate aftermath of a major earthquake, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) will be called upon to provide information on the characteristics of the event to emergency responders and the media. One such piece of information is the expected surface displacement due to the earthquake. In conducting probabilistic hazard analyses for the San Francisco Bay Region, the Working Group on California Earthquake Probabilities (WGCEP) identified a series of scenario earthquakes involving the major faults of the region, and these were used in their 2003 report (hereafter referred to as WG03) and the recently released 2008 Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (UCERF). Here I present a collection of maps depicting the expected surface displacement resulting from those scenario earthquakes. The USGS has conducted frequent Global Positioning System (GPS) surveys throughout northern California for nearly two decades, generating a solid baseline of interseismic measurements. Following an earthquake, temporary GPS deployments at these sites will be important to augment the spatial coverage provided by continuous GPS sites for recording postseismic deformation, as will the acquisition of Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) scenes. The information provided in this report allows one to anticipate, for a given event, where the largest displacements are likely to occur. This information is valuable both for assessing the need for further spatial densification of GPS coverage before an event and prioritizing sites to resurvey and InSAR data to acquire in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake. In addition, these maps are envisioned to be a resource for scientists in communicating with emergency responders and members of the press, particularly during the time immediately after a major earthquake before displacements recorded by continuous GPS stations are available.

Probing failure susceptibilities of earthquake faults using small-quake tidal correlations.

PubMed

Brinkman, Braden A W; LeBlanc, Michael; Ben-Zion, Yehuda; Uhl, Jonathan T; Dahmen, Karin A

2015-01-27

Mitigating the devastating economic and humanitarian impact of large earthquakes requires signals for forecasting seismic events. Daily tide stresses were previously thought to be insufficient for use as such a signal. Recently, however, they have been found to correlate significantly with small earthquakes, just before large earthquakes occur. Here we present a simple earthquake model to investigate whether correlations between daily tidal stresses and small earthquakes provide information about the likelihood of impending large earthquakes. The model predicts that intervals of significant correlations between small earthquakes and ongoing low-amplitude periodic stresses indicate increased fault susceptibility to large earthquake generation. The results agree with the recent observations of large earthquakes preceded by time periods of significant correlations between smaller events and daily tide stresses. We anticipate that incorporating experimentally determined parameters and fault-specific details into the model may provide new tools for extracting improved probabilities of impending large earthquakes.

Object-oriented microcomputer software for earthquake seismology

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kroeger, G.C.

1993-02-01

A suite of graphically interactive applications for the retrieval, editing and modeling of earthquake seismograms have been developed using object-orientation programming methodology and the C++ language. Retriever is an application which allows the user to search for, browse, and extract seismic data from CD-ROMs produced by the National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC). The user can restrict the date, size, location and depth of desired earthquakes and extract selected data into a variety of common seismic file formats. Reformer is an application that allows the user to edit seismic data and data headers, and perform a variety of signal processing operationsmore » on that data. Synthesizer is a program for the generation and analysis of teleseismic P and SH synthetic seismograms. The program provides graphical manipulation of source parameters, crustal structures and seismograms, as well as near real-time response in generating synthetics for arbitrary flat-layered crustal structures. All three applications use class libraries developed for implementing geologic and seismic objects and views. Standard seismogram view objects and objects that encapsulate the reading and writing of different seismic data file formats are shared by all three applications. The focal mechanism views in Synthesizer are based on a generic stereonet view object. Interaction with the native graphical user interface is encapsulated in a class library in order to simplify the porting of the software to different operating systems and application programming interfaces. The software was developed on the Apple Macintosh and is being ported to UNIX/X-Window platforms.« less

78 FR 16255 - National Technical Information Service Advisory Board

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-14

... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Technical Information Service National Technical Information Service Advisory Board AGENCY: National Technical Information Service, Commerce. ACTION: Notice of Open Meeting. SUMMARY: This notice announces the next meeting of the National Technical Information Service...

78 FR 61337 - National Technical Information Service Advisory Board

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-10-03

... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Technical Information Service National Technical Information Service Advisory Board AGENCY: National Technical Information Service, Commerce. ACTION: Notice of open meeting SUMMARY: This notice announces the next meeting of the National Technical Information Service...

The Loma Prieta, California, Earthquake of October 17, 1989: Earthquake Occurrence

USGS Publications Warehouse

Coordinated by Bakun, William H.; Prescott, William H.

1993-01-01

Professional Paper 1550 seeks to understand the M6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake itself. It examines how the fault that generated the earthquake ruptured, searches for and evaluates precursors that may have indicated an earthquake was coming, reviews forecasts of the earthquake, and describes the geology of the earthquake area and the crustal forces that affect this geology. Some significant findings were: * Slip during the earthquake occurred on 35 km of fault at depths ranging from 7 to 20 km. Maximum slip was approximately 2.3 m. The earthquake may not have released all of the strain stored in rocks next to the fault and indicates a potential for another damaging earthquake in the Santa Cruz Mountains in the near future may still exist. * The earthquake involved a large amount of uplift on a dipping fault plane. Pre-earthquake conventional wisdom was that large earthquakes in the Bay area occurred as horizontal displacements on predominantly vertical faults. * The fault segment that ruptured approximately coincided with a fault segment identified in 1988 as having a 30% probability of generating a M7 earthquake in the next 30 years. This was one of more than 20 relevant earthquake forecasts made in the 83 years before the earthquake. * Calculations show that the Loma Prieta earthquake changed stresses on nearby faults in the Bay area. In particular, the earthquake reduced stresses on the Hayward Fault which decreased the frequency of small earthquakes on it. * Geological and geophysical mapping indicate that, although the San Andreas Fault can be mapped as a through going fault in the epicentral region, the southwest dipping Loma Prieta rupture surface is a separate fault strand and one of several along this part of the San Andreas that may be capable of generating earthquakes.

USGS Tweet Earthquake Dispatch (@USGSted): Using Twitter for Earthquake Detection and Characterization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, S. B.; Bouchard, B.; Bowden, D. C.; Guy, M.; Earle, P.

2012-12-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is investigating how online social networking services like Twitter—a microblogging service for sending and reading public text-based messages of up to 140 characters—can augment USGS earthquake response products and the delivery of hazard information. The USGS Tweet Earthquake Dispatch (TED) system is using Twitter not only to broadcast seismically-verified earthquake alerts via the @USGSted and @USGSbigquakes Twitter accounts, but also to rapidly detect widely felt seismic events through a real-time detection system. The detector algorithm scans for significant increases in tweets containing the word "earthquake" or its equivalent in other languages and sends internal alerts with the detection time, tweet text, and the location of the city where most of the tweets originated. It has been running in real-time for 7 months and finds, on average, two or three felt events per day with a false detection rate of less than 10%. The detections have reasonable coverage of populated areas globally. The number of detections is small compared to the number of earthquakes detected seismically, and only a rough location and qualitative assessment of shaking can be determined based on Tweet data alone. However, the Twitter detections are generally caused by widely felt events that are of more immediate interest than those with no human impact. The main benefit of the tweet-based detections is speed, with most detections occurring between 19 seconds and 2 minutes from the origin time. This is considerably faster than seismic detections in poorly instrumented regions of the world. Going beyond the initial detection, the USGS is developing data mining techniques to continuously archive and analyze relevant tweets for additional details about the detected events. The information generated about an event is displayed on a web-based map designed using HTML5 for the mobile environment, which can be valuable when the user is not able to access a

Map showing earthquake epicenters (1964-81) in Yellowstone National Park and vicinity, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pitt, A.M.

1989-01-01

The seismicity displayed on these maps occurred over a 17 year period and was recorded at a variety of seismograph stations, which has resulted in much variation in the reliability and completness of the data set. The earthquake epicenter data are presented on 2 maps. Symbols on map 1 identify events by year of occurrence with the symbol size indicating the magnitude range. Symbols on map 2 indicate the reliability of the earthquake epicenters. Variations in the level of seismicity and strain release with time are shown (Fig. 1), as well as earthquake focal-depth cross sections and representative earthquake focal mechanisms (Fig.2).

Earthquake Preparedness: What Every Childcare Provider Should Know.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

California State Office of Emergency Services, Sacramento.

This brochure provides information to help child care providers reduce or avoid damage, injuries, or loss of life during earthquakes. It first discusses steps to implement before an earthquake strikes, including securing household contents, and practicing with children how to duck and cover. Next, the brochure describes what to do during an…

USGS contributions to earthquake and tsunami monitoring in the Caribbean Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McNamara, D.; Caribbean Project Team, U.; Partners, C.

2007-05-01

USGS Caribbean Project Team: Lind Gee, Gary Gyure, John Derr, Jack Odum, John McMillan, David Carver, Jim Allen, Susan Rhea, Don Anderson, Harley Benz Caribbean Partners: Christa von Hillebrandt-Andrade-PRSN, Juan Payero ISU-UASD,DR, Eduardo Camacho - UPAN, Panama, Lloyd Lynch - SRU,Gonzalo Cruz - UNAH,Honduras, Margaret Wiggins-Grandison - Jamaica, Judy Thomas - CERO Barbados, Sylvan McIntyre - NADMA Grenada, E. Bermingham - STRI. The magnitude-9 Sumatra-Andaman Islands earthquake of December 26, 2004, increased global awareness of the destructive hazard posed by earthquakes and tsunamis. In response to this tragedy, the US government undertook a collaborative project to improve earthquake and tsunami monitoring along a major portion of vulnerable coastal regions, in the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Atlantic Ocean. Seismically active areas of the Caribbean Sea region pose a tsunami risk for Caribbean islands, coastal areas along the Gulf of Mexico, and the Atlantic seaboard of North America. Nearly 100 tsunamis have been reported for the Caribbean region in the past 500 years, including 14 tsunamis reported in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Partners in this project include the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the Smithsonian Institute, the National Oceanic and Aeronautic Administration (NOAA), and several partner institutions in the Caribbean region. This presentation focuses on the deployment of nine broadband seismic stations to monitor earthquake activity in the Caribbean region that are affiliated with the Global Seismograph Network (GSN). By the end of 2006, five stations were transmitting data to the USGS National Earthquake Information Service (NEIS), and regional partners through Puerto Rico seismograph network (PRSN) Earthworm systems. The following stations are currently operating: SDDR - Sabaneta Dam Dominican Republic, BBGH - Gun Hill Barbados, GRGR - Grenville, Grenada, BCIP - Barro Colorado, Panama, TGUH - Tegucigalpa

Earthquake Occurrence in Bangladesh and Surrounding Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al-Hussaini, T. M.; Al-Noman, M.

2011-12-01

The collision of the northward moving Indian plate with the Eurasian plate is the cause of frequent earthquakes in the region comprising Bangladesh and neighbouring India, Nepal and Myanmar. Historical records indicate that Bangladesh has been affected by five major earthquakes of magnitude greater than 7.0 (Richter scale) during 1869 to 1930. This paper presents some statistical observations of earthquake occurrence in fulfilment of a basic groundwork for seismic hazard assessment of this region. An up to date catalogue covering earthquake information in the region bounded within 17°-30°N and 84°-97°E for the period of historical period to 2010 is derived from various reputed international sources including ISC, IRIS, Indian sources and available publications. Careful scrutiny is done to remove duplicate or uncertain earthquake events. Earthquake magnitudes in the range of 1.8 to 8.1 have been obtained and relationships between different magnitude scales have been studied. Aftershocks are removed from the catalogue using magnitude dependent space window and time window. The main shock data are then analyzed to obtain completeness period for different magnitudes evaluating their temporal homogeneity. Spatial and temporal distribution of earthquakes, magnitude-depth histograms and other statistical analysis are performed to understand the distribution of seismic activity in this region.

The impact of the Canterbury earthquakes on prescribing for mental health.

PubMed

Beaglehole, Ben; Bell, Caroline; Frampton, Christopher; Hamilton, Greg; McKean, Andrew

2015-08-01

The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of the Canterbury earthquakes on the mental health of the local population by examining prescribing patterns of psychotropic medication. Dispensing data from community pharmacies for antidepressants, antipsychotics, anxiolytics and sedatives/hypnotics are routinely recorded in a national database. The close relationship between prescribing and dispensing provides the opportunity to assess prescribing trends for Canterbury compared to national data and therefore examines the longitudinal impact of the earthquakes on prescribing patterns. Short-term increases in the use of anxiolytics and sedatives/hypnotics were observed after the most devastating February 2011 earthquake, but this effect was not sustained. There were no observable effects of the earthquakes on antidepressant or antipsychotic dispensing. Short-term increases in dispensing were only observed for the classes of anxiolytics and sedatives/hypnotics. No sustained changes in dispensing occurred. These findings suggest that long-term detrimental effects on the mental health of the Canterbury population were either not present or have not resulted in increased prescribing of psychotropic medication. © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2015.

The Information Superhighway and the National Information Infrastructure (NII).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Griffith, Jane Bortnick; Smith, Marcia S.

1994-01-01

Discusses issues connected with the information superhighway and the National Information Infrastructure (NII). Topics addressed include principles for government action; economic benefits; regulations; applications; information policy; pending federal legislation; private sector/government relationship; open access and universal service; privacy…

Earthquake ground motion simulation at Zoser pyramid using the stochastic method: A step toward the preservation of an ancient Egyptian heritage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khalil, Amin E.; Abdel Hafiez, H. E.; Girgis, Milad; Taha, M. A.

2017-06-01

Strong ground shaking during earthquakes can greatly affect the ancient monuments and subsequently demolish the human heritage. On October 12th 1992, a moderate earthquake (Ms = 5.8) shocked the greater Cairo area causing widespread damages. Unfortunately, the focus of that earthquake is located about 14 km to the south of Zoser pyramid. After the earthquake, the Egyptian Supreme council of antiquities issued an alarm that Zoser pyramid is partially collapsed and international and national efforts are exerted to restore this important human heritage that was built about 4000 years ago. Engineering and geophysical work is thus needed for the restoration process. The definition of the strong motion parameters is one of the required studies since seismically active zone is recorded in its near vicinity. The present study adopted the stochastic method to determine the peak ground motion (acceleration, velocity and displacement) for the three largest earthquakes recorded in the Egypt's seismological history. These earthquakes are Shedwan earthquake with magnitude Ms = 6.9, Aqaba earthquake with magnitude Mw = 7.2 and Cairo (Dahshour earthquake) with magnitude Ms = 5.8. The former two major earthquakes took place few hundred kilometers away. It is logic to have the predominant effects from the epicentral location of the Cairo earthquake; however, the authors wanted to test also the long period effects of the large distance earthquakes expected from the other two earthquakes under consideration. In addition, the dynamic site response was studied using the Horizontal to vertical spectral ratio (HVSR) technique. HVSR can provide information about the fundamental frequency successfully; however, the amplification estimation is not accepted. The result represented as either peak ground motion parameters or response spectra indicates that the effects from Cairo earthquake epicenter are the largest for all periods considered in the present study. The level of strong motion as

76 FR 81827 - Declassification of National Security Information

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-12-29

... prompt decision on the appeal. (b) [Reserved] Sec. 1260.82 What actions must NARA take with information... Declassification of National Security Information AGENCY: National Archives and Records Administration. ACTION... related to declassification of classified national security information in records transferred to NARA's...

The Key Role of Eyewitnesses in Rapid Impact Assessment of Global Earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bossu, R.; Steed, R.; Mazet-Roux, G.; Roussel, F.; Etivant, C.; Frobert, L.; Godey, S.

2014-12-01

Uncertainties in rapid impact assessments of global earthquakes are intrinsically large because they rely on 3 main elements (ground motion prediction models, building stock inventory and related vulnerability) which values and/or spatial variations are poorly constrained. Furthermore, variations of hypocentral location and magnitude within their respective uncertainty domain can lead to significantly different shaking level for centers of population and change the scope of the disaster. We present the strategy and methods implemented at the Euro-Med Seismological Centre (EMSC) to rapidly collect in-situ observations on earthquake effects from eyewitnesses for reducing uncertainties of rapid earthquake impact assessment. It comprises crowdsourced information (online questionnaires, pics) as well as information derived from real time analysis of web traffic (flashourcing technique), and more recently deployment of QCN (Quake Catcher Network) low cost sensors. We underline the importance of merging results of different methods to improve performances and reliability of collected data.We try to better understand and respond to public demands and expectations after earthquakes through improved information services and diversification of information tools (social networks, smartphone app., browsers adds-on…), which, in turn, drive more eyewitnesses to our services and improve data collection. We will notably present our LastQuake Twitter feed (Quakebot) and smartphone applications (IOs and android) which only report earthquakes that matter for the public and authorities, i.e. felt and damaging earthquakes identified thanks to citizen generated information.

Earthquake Risk Mitigation in the Tokyo Metropolitan area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hirata, N.; Sakai, S.; Kasahara, K.; Nakagawa, S.; Nanjo, K.; Panayotopoulos, Y.; Tsuruoka, H.

2010-12-01

Seismic disaster risk mitigation in urban areas constitutes a challenge through collaboration of scientific, engineering, and social-science fields. Examples of collaborative efforts include research on detailed plate structure with identification of all significant faults, developing dense seismic networks; strong ground motion prediction, which uses information on near-surface seismic site effects and fault models; earthquake resistant and proof structures; and cross-discipline infrastructure for effective risk mitigation just after catastrophic events. Risk mitigation strategy for the next greater earthquake caused by the Philippine Sea plate (PSP) subducting beneath the Tokyo metropolitan area is of major concern because it caused past mega-thrust earthquakes, such as the 1703 Genroku earthquake (magnitude M8.0) and the 1923 Kanto earthquake (M7.9) which had 105,000 fatalities. A M7 or greater (M7+) earthquake in this area at present has high potential to produce devastating loss of life and property with even greater global economic repercussions. The Central Disaster Management Council of Japan estimates that the M7+ earthquake will cause 11,000 fatalities and 112 trillion yen (about 1 trillion US$) economic loss. This earthquake is evaluated to occur with a probability of 70% in 30 years by the Earthquake Research Committee of Japan. In order to mitigate disaster for greater Tokyo, the Special Project for Earthquake Disaster Mitigation in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area (2007-2011) was launched in collaboration with scientists, engineers, and social-scientists in nationwide institutions. The results that are obtained in the respective fields will be integrated until project termination to improve information on the strategy assessment for seismic risk mitigation in the Tokyo metropolitan area. In this talk, we give an outline of our project as an example of collaborative research on earthquake risk mitigation. Discussion is extended to our effort in progress and

G-FAST Early Warning Potential for Great Earthquakes in Chile

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crowell, B.; Schmidt, D. A.; Baker, B. I.; Bodin, P.; Vidale, J. E.

2016-12-01

The importance of GNSS-based earthquake early warning for modeling large earthquakes has been studied extensively over the past decade and several such systems are currently under development. In the Pacific Northwest, we have developed the G-FAST GNSS-based earthquake early warning module for eventual inclusion in the US West-Coast wide ShakeAlert system. We have also created a test system that allows us to replay past and synthetic earthquakes to identify problems with both the network architecture and the algorithms. Between 2010 and 2016, there have been seven M > 8 earthquakes across the globe, of which three struck offshore Chile; the 27 February 2010 Mw 8.8 Maule, the 1 April 2014 Mw 8.2 Iquique, and the 16 September 2015 Mw 8.3 Illapel. Subsequent to these events, the Chilean national GNSS network operated by the Centro Sismologico Nacional (http://www.sismologia.cl/) greatly expanded to over 150 continuous GNSS stations, providing the best recordings of great earthquakes with GNSS outside of Japan. Here we report on retrospective G-FAST performance for those three great earthquakes in Chile. We discuss the interplay of location errors, latency, and data completeness with respect to the precision and timing of G-FAST earthquake source alerts as well as the computational demands of the system.

The Lushan earthquake and the giant panda: impacts and conservation.

PubMed

Zhang, Zejun; Yuan, Shibin; Qi, Dunwu; Zhang, Mingchun

2014-06-01

Earthquakes not only result in a great loss of human life and property, but also have profound effects on the Earth's biodiversity. The Lushan earthquake occurred on 20 Apr 2013, with a magnitude of 7.0 and an intensity of 9.0 degrees. A distance of 17.0 km from its epicenter to the nearest distribution site of giant pandas recorded in the Third National Survey was determined. Making use of research on the Wenchuan earthquake (with a magnitude of 8.0), which occurred approximately 5 years ago, we briefly analyze the impacts of the Lushan earthquake on giant pandas and their habitat. An earthquake may interrupt ongoing behaviors of giant pandas and may also cause injury or death. In addition, an earthquake can damage conservation facilities for pandas, and result in further habitat fragmentation and degradation. However, from a historical point of view, the impacts of human activities on giant pandas and their habitat may, in fact, far outweigh those of natural disasters such as earthquakes. Measures taken to promote habitat restoration and conservation network reconstruction in earthquake-affected areas should be based on requirements of giant pandas, not those of humans. © 2013 International Society of Zoological Sciences, Institute of Zoology/Chinese Academy of Sciences and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Creating a Global Building Inventory for Earthquake Loss Assessment and Risk Management

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jaiswal, Kishor; Wald, David J.

2008-01-01

Earthquakes have claimed approximately 8 million lives over the last 2,000 years (Dunbar, Lockridge and others, 1992) and fatality rates are likely to continue to rise with increased population and urbanizations of global settlements especially in developing countries. More than 75% of earthquake-related human casualties are caused by the collapse of buildings or structures (Coburn and Spence, 2002). It is disheartening to note that large fractions of the world's population still reside in informal, poorly-constructed & non-engineered dwellings which have high susceptibility to collapse during earthquakes. Moreover, with increasing urbanization half of world's population now lives in urban areas (United Nations, 2001), and half of these urban centers are located in earthquake-prone regions (Bilham, 2004). The poor performance of most building stocks during earthquakes remains a primary societal concern. However, despite this dark history and bleaker future trends, there are no comprehensive global building inventories of sufficient quality and coverage to adequately address and characterize future earthquake losses. Such an inventory is vital both for earthquake loss mitigation and for earthquake disaster response purposes. While the latter purpose is the motivation of this work, we hope that the global building inventory database described herein will find widespread use for other mitigation efforts as well. For a real-time earthquake impact alert system, such as U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER), (Wald, Earle and others, 2006), we seek to rapidly evaluate potential casualties associated with earthquake ground shaking for any region of the world. The casualty estimation is based primarily on (1) rapid estimation of the ground shaking hazard, (2) aggregating the population exposure within different building types, and (3) estimating the casualties from the collapse of vulnerable buildings. Thus, the

Hazards, Disasters, and The National Map

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

2003-01-01

Governments depend on base geographic information that describes the Earth's surface and locates features. They use this information for economic and community development, land and natural resource management, delivery of health services, and ensuring public safety. It is also the foundation for studying and solving geographically based problems. Geographic information underpins an increasingly large part of the Nation's economy. It is an important part of our national infrastructure in the same way that the Interstate Highway System is an essential element of our transportation network. Federal, State, and local response and management personnel must have current, reliable, and easily accessible geographic information and maps to prepare for, respond to, or recover from emergency situations. In life-threatening events, such as earthquakes, floods, or wildland fires, geographic information is essential for locating critical infrastructure and carrying out evacuation and rescue operations.

The Earthquake Early Warning System in Japan (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mori, J. J.; Yamada, M.

2010-12-01

In Japan, the earthquake early warning system (Kinkyu Jishin Sokuhou in Japanese) maintained by the Japan Meterological Agency (JMA) has been in operation and sending pubic information since October 1, 2007. Messages have been broadcast on television and radio to warn of strong shaking to the public. The threshold for broadcasting a message is an estimated intensity of JMA 5 lower, which is approximately equivalent to MM VII to VIII. During the period from October 2007 through August 2010, messages have been sent 9 times for earthquakes of magnitude 5.2 to 7.0. There have been a few instances of significantly over-estimating or under-estimating the predicted shaking, but in general the performance of the system has been quite good. The quality of the detection system depends on the dense network of high-quality seismometers that cover the Japanese Islands. Consequently, the system works very well for events on or close to the 4 main islands, but there is more uncertainty for events near the smaller and more distant islands where the density of instrumentation is much less The Early Warning System is also tied to an extensive education program so that the public can react appropriately in the short amount of time given by the warning. There appears to be good public support in Japan, where people have become accustomed to a high level of fast information on a daily basis. There has also been development of a number of specific safety applications in schools and industry that work off the backbone information provided in the national system.

Exploiting broadband seismograms and the mechanism of deep-focus earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiao, Wenjie

1997-09-01

Modern broadband seismic instrumentation has provided enormous opportunities to retrieve the information in almost any frequency band of seismic interest. In this thesis, we have investigated the long period responses of the broadband seismometers and the problem of recovering actual groundmotion. For the first time, we recovered the static offset for an earthquake from dynamic seismograms. The very long period waves of near- and intermediate-field term from 1994 large Bolivian deep earthquake (depth = 630km, Msb{W}=8.2) and 1997 large Argentina deep earthquake (depth = 285km, Msb{W}=7.1) are successfully recovered from the portable broadband recordings by BANJO and APVC networks. These waves provide another dynamic window into the seismic source process and may provide unique information to help constrain the source dynamics of deep earthquakes in the future. We have developed a new method to locate global explosion events based on broadband waveform stacking and simulated annealing. This method utilizes the information provided by the full broadband waveforms. Instead of "picking times", the character of the wavelet is used for locating events. The application of this methodology to a Lop Nor nuclear explosion is very successful, and suggests a procedure for automatic monitoring. We have discussed the problem of deep earthquakes from the viewpoint of rock mechanics and seismology. The rupture propagation of deep earthquakes requires a slip-weakening process unlike that for shallow events. However, this process is not necessarily the same as the process which triggers the rupture. Partial melting due to stress release is developed to account for the slip-weakening process in the deep earthquake rupture. The energy required for partial melting in this model is on the same order of the maximum energy required for the slip-weakening process in the shallow earthquake rupture. However, the verification of this model requires experimental work on the thermodynamic

Rapid Large Earthquake and Run-up Characterization in Quasi Real Time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bravo, F. J.; Riquelme, S.; Koch, P.; Cararo, S.

2017-12-01

Several test in quasi real time have been conducted by the rapid response group at CSN (National Seismological Center) to characterize earthquakes in Real Time. These methods are known for its robustness and realibility to create Finite Fault Models. The W-phase FFM Inversion, The Wavelet Domain FFM and The Body Wave and FFM have been implemented in real time at CSN, all these algorithms are running automatically and triggered by the W-phase Point Source Inversion. Dimensions (Large and Width ) are predefined by adopting scaling laws for earthquakes in subduction zones. We tested the last four major earthquakes occurred in Chile using this scheme: The 2010 Mw 8.8 Maule Earthquake, The 2014 Mw 8.2 Iquique Earthquake, The 2015 Mw 8.3 Illapel Earthquake and The 7.6 Melinka Earthquake. We obtain many solutions as time elapses, for each one of those we calculate the run-up using an analytical formula. Our results are in agreements with some FFM already accepted by the sicentific comunnity aswell as run-up observations in the field.

Earthquakes and faults in the San Francisco Bay area (1970-2003)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sleeter, Benjamin M.; Calzia, James P.; Walter, Stephen R.; Wong, Florence L.; Saucedo, George J.

2004-01-01

The map depicts both active and inactive faults and earthquakes magnitude 1.5 to 7.0 in the greater San Francisco Bay area. Twenty-two earthquakes magnitude 5.0 and greater are indicated on the map and listed chronologically in an accompanying table. The data are compiled from records from 1970-2003. The bathymetry was generated from a digital version of NOAA maps and hydrogeographic data for San Francisco Bay. Elevation data are from the USGS National Elevation Database. Landsat satellite image is from seven Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus scenes. Fault data are reproduced with permission from the California Geological Survey. The earthquake data are from the Northern California Earthquake Catalog.

39 CFR 267.5 - National Security Information.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 39 Postal Service 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false National Security Information. 267.5 Section 267.5 Postal Service UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION PROTECTION OF INFORMATION § 267.5 National Security Information. (a) Purpose and scope. The purpose of this section is to provide...

39 CFR 267.5 - National Security Information.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 39 Postal Service 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false National Security Information. 267.5 Section 267.5 Postal Service UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION PROTECTION OF INFORMATION § 267.5 National Security Information. (a) Purpose and scope. The purpose of this section is to provide...

39 CFR 267.5 - National Security Information.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 39 Postal Service 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false National Security Information. 267.5 Section 267.5 Postal Service UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION PROTECTION OF INFORMATION § 267.5 National Security Information. (a) Purpose and scope. The purpose of this section is to provide...

39 CFR 267.5 - National Security Information.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 39 Postal Service 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false National Security Information. 267.5 Section 267.5 Postal Service UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION PROTECTION OF INFORMATION § 267.5 National Security Information. (a) Purpose and scope. The purpose of this section is to provide...

39 CFR 267.5 - National Security Information.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 39 Postal Service 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false National Security Information. 267.5 Section 267.5 Postal Service UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION PROTECTION OF INFORMATION § 267.5 National Security Information. (a) Purpose and scope. The purpose of this section is to provide...

National Cartographic Information Center

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

1984-01-01

The National Cartographic Information Center (NCIC) exists to help you find maps of all kinds and much of the data and materials used to compile and to print them. NCIC collects, sorts and describes all types of cartographic information from Federal, State and local government agencies and, where possible, from private companies in the mapping business. It is the public's primary source for cartographic information. (See partial list of Federal agencies and their map and other cartographic products.)

Health information exchange: national and international approaches.

PubMed

Vest, Joshua R

2012-01-01

Health information exchange (HIE), the process of electronically moving patient-level information between different organizations, is viewed as a solution to the fragmentation of data in health care. This review provides a description of the current state of HIE in seven nations, as well was three international HIE efforts, with a particular focus on the relation of exchange efforts to national health care systems, common challenges, and the implications of cross-border information sharing. National and international efforts highlighted in English language informatics journals, professional associations, and government reports are described. Fully functioning HIE is not yet a common phenomenon worldwide. However, multiple nations see the potential benefits of HIE and that has led to national and international efforts of varying scope, scale, and purview. National efforts continue to work to overcome the challenges of interoperability, record linking, insufficient infrastructures, governance, and interorganizational relationships, but have created architectural strategies, oversight agencies, and incentives to foster exchange. The three international HIE efforts reviewed represent very different approaches to the same problem of ensuring the availability of health information across borders. The potential of HIE to address many cost and quality issues will ensure HIE remains on many national agendas. In many instances, health care executives and leaders have opportunities to work within national programs to help shape local exchange governance and decide technology partners. Furthermore, HIE raises policy questions concerning the role of centralized planning, national identifiers, standards, and types of information exchanged, each of which are vital issues to individual health organizations and worthy of their attention.

What is the best use of 100 Euros to reduce the earthquake risk of a residential masonry building in a developed nation? Optimisation and Quantification of the benefits of risk reduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daniell, James; Schaefer, Andreas; Wenzel, Friedemann

2015-04-01

The average loss per building in developed countries like Australia or Switzerland due to earthquakes will be far in excess of 100€ over a political lifetime of 4 years (via a stochastic risk assessment). So a good question is, what can be done for 100€ and a bit of hard work, to strengthen and retrofit a URM (unreinforced masonry house). Of course much of the loss occurs in a few large events, but significant damage also occurs from more frequent smaller events. Using the CATDAT Damaging Earthquakes Database (Daniell et al., 2011), 57% of deaths from earthquakes have occurred in masonry buildings since 1900 globally. Thus, with a view towards life safety and the maximum return on investment, different options are tested and discussed for retrofitting the average brick house for earthquake resistance. Bolting and bracketing furniture, electrical equipment and valuables to walls, the removal or tying in of certain non-structural elements, as well as adjustments such as seismic wallpaper and reinforcement are tested from empirical and analytical experience from around the world. Of course, earthquakes are not the only main concern for developed nation populations, so a view as to the best use of the 100€ is looked at in combination with other disaster types. Insurance takeout and its implications are also discussed. The process is repeated for the D-A-CH (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) region in order to see the regional economic implications for widespread awareness of earthquake risks and losses. The risk reduction is quantified and is seen to be significant for nearly all of the D-A-CH region. This analysis has implications for developed and developing nations alike.

Real-time earthquake monitoring using a search engine method.

PubMed

Zhang, Jie; Zhang, Haijiang; Chen, Enhong; Zheng, Yi; Kuang, Wenhuan; Zhang, Xiong

2014-12-04

When an earthquake occurs, seismologists want to use recorded seismograms to infer its location, magnitude and source-focal mechanism as quickly as possible. If such information could be determined immediately, timely evacuations and emergency actions could be undertaken to mitigate earthquake damage. Current advanced methods can report the initial location and magnitude of an earthquake within a few seconds, but estimating the source-focal mechanism may require minutes to hours. Here we present an earthquake search engine, similar to a web search engine, that we developed by applying a computer fast search method to a large seismogram database to find waveforms that best fit the input data. Our method is several thousand times faster than an exact search. For an Mw 5.9 earthquake on 8 March 2012 in Xinjiang, China, the search engine can infer the earthquake's parameters in <1 s after receiving the long-period surface wave data.

Emergency seismic and CGPS networks: a first employment for the L'Aquila Mw 6.3 earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abruzzese, L.; Avallone, A.; Cecere, G.; Cattaneo, M.; Cardinale, V.; Castagnozzi, A.; Cogliano, R.; Criscuoli, F.; D'Agostino, N.; D'Ambrosio, C.; de Luca, G.; D'Anastasio, E.; Falco, L.; Flammia, V.; Migliari, F.; Minichiello, F.; Memmolo, A.; Monachesi, G.; Moschillo, R.; Pignone, M.; Pucillo, S.; Selvaggi, G.; Zarrilli, L.; Delladio, A.; Govoni, A.; Franceschi, D.; de Martin, M.; Moretti, M.

2009-12-01

During the last 2 years, the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) developed an important real-time temporary seismic network infrastructure in order to densify the Italian National Seismic Network in epicentral areas thus enhancing the localization of the micro-seismicity after main earthquake events. This real-time temporary seismic network is constituted by various mobile and autonomous seismic stations that in group of three are telemetered to a Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT). This system uses a dedicated bandwidth on UHF, Wi-Fi and satellite frequency that allows the data flow in real-time at INGV centre in Rome (and Grottaminarda as backup center). The deployment of the seismic network is managed in a geographical information systems (GIS) by particular scenarios that visualizes, for the epicentral area, information about instrumental seismicity, seismic risk, macroseismic felts and territorial data. Starting from digital terrain model, the surface spatial analysis (Viewshed, Observer Point) allows the geographic arrangement of the stations and relative scenarios. The April, 6th, 2009 Mw 6.3 L'Aquila destructive earthquake represented the first real-case to test the entire emergency seismic network infrastructure. Less than 6 hours after the earthquake occurrence, a first accelerometer station was already sending data at INGV seismic monitoring headquarters. A total number of 9 seismic stations have been installed within 3 days after the earthquake. Furthermore, 5 permanent GPS stations have been installed in the epicentral area within 1 to 9 days after the main shock to detect the post-seismic deformation induced by the earthquake. We will show and describe the details of the Emergency Seismic Network infrastructure, and the first results from the collected data.

76 FR 40296 - Declassification of National Security Information

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-07-08

... NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION 36 CFR Part 1260 [FDMS NARA-11-0001] RIN 3095-AB64 Declassification of National Security Information AGENCY: National Archives and Records Administration. ACTION... classified national security information in records transferred to NARA's legal custody. The rule...

The Value, Protocols, and Scientific Ethics of Earthquake Forecasting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jordan, Thomas H.

2013-04-01

Earthquakes are different from other common natural hazards because precursory signals diagnostic of the magnitude, location, and time of impending seismic events have not yet been found. Consequently, the short-term, localized prediction of large earthquakes at high probabilities with low error rates (false alarms and failures-to-predict) is not yet feasible. An alternative is short-term probabilistic forecasting based on empirical statistical models of seismic clustering. During periods of high seismic activity, short-term earthquake forecasts can attain prospective probability gains up to 1000 relative to long-term forecasts. The value of such information is by no means clear, however, because even with hundredfold increases, the probabilities of large earthquakes typically remain small, rarely exceeding a few percent over forecasting intervals of days or weeks. Civil protection agencies have been understandably cautious in implementing operational forecasting protocols in this sort of "low-probability environment." This paper will explore the complex interrelations among the valuation of low-probability earthquake forecasting, which must account for social intangibles; the protocols of operational forecasting, which must factor in large uncertainties; and the ethics that guide scientists as participants in the forecasting process, who must honor scientific principles without doing harm. Earthquake forecasts possess no intrinsic societal value; rather, they acquire value through their ability to influence decisions made by users seeking to mitigate seismic risk and improve community resilience to earthquake disasters. According to the recommendations of the International Commission on Earthquake Forecasting (www.annalsofgeophysics.eu/index.php/annals/article/view/5350), operational forecasting systems should appropriately separate the hazard-estimation role of scientists from the decision-making role of civil protection authorities and individuals. They should

Web-Based Real Time Earthquake Forecasting and Personal Risk Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rundle, J. B.; Holliday, J. R.; Graves, W. R.; Turcotte, D. L.; Donnellan, A.

2012-12-01

Earthquake forecasts have been computed by a variety of countries and economies world-wide for over two decades. For the most part, forecasts have been computed for insurance, reinsurance and underwriters of catastrophe bonds. One example is the Working Group on California Earthquake Probabilities that has been responsible for the official California earthquake forecast since 1988. However, in a time of increasingly severe global financial constraints, we are now moving inexorably towards personal risk management, wherein mitigating risk is becoming the responsibility of individual members of the public. Under these circumstances, open access to a variety of web-based tools, utilities and information is a necessity. Here we describe a web-based system that has been operational since 2009 at www.openhazards.com and www.quakesim.org. Models for earthquake physics and forecasting require input data, along with model parameters. The models we consider are the Natural Time Weibull (NTW) model for regional earthquake forecasting, together with models for activation and quiescence. These models use small earthquakes ('seismicity-based models") to forecast the occurrence of large earthquakes, either through varying rates of small earthquake activity, or via an accumulation of this activity over time. These approaches use data-mining algorithms combined with the ANSS earthquake catalog. The basic idea is to compute large earthquake probabilities using the number of small earthquakes that have occurred in a region since the last large earthquake. Each of these approaches has computational challenges associated with computing forecast information in real time. Using 25 years of data from the ANSS California-Nevada catalog of earthquakes, we show that real-time forecasting is possible at a grid scale of 0.1o. We have analyzed the performance of these models using Reliability/Attributes and standard Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) tests. We show how the Reliability and

Building Capacity for Earthquake Monitoring: Linking Regional Networks with the Global Community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Willemann, R. J.; Lerner-Lam, A.

2006-12-01

Installing or upgrading a seismic monitoring network is often among the mitigation efforts after earthquake disasters, and this is happening in response to the events both in Sumatra during December 2004 and in Pakistan during October 2005. These networks can yield improved hazard assessment, more resilient buildings where they are most needed, and emergency relief directed more quickly to the worst hit areas after the next large earthquake. Several commercial organizations are well prepared for the fleeting opportunity to provide the instruments that comprise a seismic network, including sensors, data loggers, telemetry stations, and the computers and software required for the network center. But seismic monitoring requires more than hardware and software, no matter how advanced. A well-trained staff is required to select appropriate and mutually compatible components, install and maintain telemetered stations, manage and archive data, and perform the analyses that actually yield the intended benefits. Monitoring is more effective when network operators cooperate with a larger community through free and open exchange of data, sharing information about working practices, and international collaboration in research. As an academic consortium, a facility operator and a founding member of the International Federation of Digital Seismographic Networks, IRIS has access to a broad range of expertise with the skills that are required to help design, install, and operate a seismic network and earthquake analysis center, and stimulate the core training for the professional teams required to establish and maintain these facilities. But delivering expertise quickly when and where it is unexpectedly in demand requires advance planning and coordination in order to respond to the needs of organizations that are building a seismic network, either with tight time constraints imposed by the budget cycles of aid agencies following a disastrous earthquake, or as part of more informed

Thermal IR satellite data application for earthquake research in Pakistan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barkat, Adnan; Ali, Aamir; Rehman, Khaista; Awais, Muhammad; Riaz, Muhammad Shahid; Iqbal, Talat

2018-05-01

The scientific progress in space research indicates earthquake-related processes of surface temperature growth, gas/aerosol exhalation and electromagnetic disturbances in the ionosphere prior to seismic activity. Among them surface temperature growth calculated using the satellite thermal infrared images carries valuable earthquake precursory information for near/distant earthquakes. Previous studies have concluded that such information can appear few days before the occurrence of an earthquake. The objective of this study is to use MODIS thermal imagery data for precursory analysis of Kashmir (Oct 8, 2005; Mw 7.6; 26 km), Ziarat (Oct 28, 2008; Mw 6.4; 13 km) and Dalbandin (Jan 18, 2011; Mw 7.2; 69 km) earthquakes. Our results suggest that there exists an evident correlation of Land Surface Temperature (thermal; LST) anomalies with seismic activity. In particular, a rise of 3-10 °C in LST is observed 6, 4 and 14 days prior to Kashmir, Ziarat and Dalbandin earthquakes. In order to further elaborate our findings, we have presented a comparative and percentile analysis of daily and five years averaged LST for a selected time window with respect to the month of earthquake occurrence. Our comparative analyses of daily and five years averaged LST show a significant change of 6.5-7.9 °C for Kashmir, 8.0-8.1 °C for Ziarat and 2.7-5.4 °C for Dalbandin earthquakes. This significant change has high percentile values for the selected events i.e. 70-100% for Kashmir, 87-100% for Ziarat and 84-100% for Dalbandin earthquakes. We expect that such consistent results may help in devising an optimal earthquake forecasting strategy and to mitigate the effect of associated seismic hazards.

iOS and OS X Apps for Exploring Earthquake Activity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ammon, C. J.

2015-12-01

The U.S. Geological Survey and many other agencies rapidly provide information following earthquakes. This timely information garners great public interest and provides a rich opportunity to engage students in discussion and analysis of earthquakes and tectonics. In this presentation I will describe a suite of iOS and Mac OS X apps that I use for teaching and that Penn State employs in outreach efforts in a small museum run by the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. The iOS apps include a simple, global overview of earthquake activity, epicentral, designed for a quick review or event lookup. A more full-featured iPad app, epicentral-plus, includes a simple global overview along with views that allow a more detailed exploration of geographic regions of interest. In addition, epicentral-plus allows the user to monitor ground motions using seismic channel lists compatible with the IRIS web services. Some limited seismogram processing features are included to allow focus on appropriate signal bandwidths. A companion web site, which includes background material on earthquakes, and a blog that includes sample images and channel lists appropriate for monitoring earthquakes in regions of recent earthquake activity can be accessed through the a third panel in the app. I use epicentral-plus at the beginning of each earthquake seismology class to review recent earthquake activity and to stimulate students to formulate and to ask questions that lead to discussions of earthquake and tectonic processes. Less interactive OS X versions of the apps are used to display a global map of earthquake activity and seismograms in near real time in a small museum on the ground floor of the building hosting Penn State's Geoscience Department.

The 2012 Mw5.6 earthquake in Sofia seismogenic zone - is it a slow earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raykova, Plamena; Solakov, Dimcho; Slavcheva, Krasimira; Simeonova, Stela; Aleksandrova, Irena

2017-04-01

very low rupture velocity. The low rupture velocity can mean slow-faulting, which brings to slow release of accumulated seismic energy. The slow release energy does principally little to moderate damages. Additionally wave form of the earthquake shows low frequency content of P-waves (the maximum P-wave is at 1.19 Hz) and the specific P- wave displacement spectral is characterise with not expressed spectrum plateau and corner frequency. These and other signs suggest us to the conclusion, that the 2012 Mw5.6 earthquake can be considered as types of slow earthquake, like a low frequency quake. The study is based on data from Bulgarian seismological network (NOTSSI), the local network (LSN) deployed around Kozloduy NPP and System of Accelerographs for Seismic Monitoring of Equipment and Structures (SASMES) installed in the Kozloduy NPP. NOTSSI jointly with LSN and SASMES provide reliable information for multiple studies on seismicity in regional scale.

Haiti and the Earthquake: Examining the Experience of Psychological Stress and Trauma

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Risler, Ed; Kintzle, Sara; Nackerud, Larry

2015-01-01

For approximately 35 seconds on January 10, 2010, an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale struck the small Caribbean nation of Haiti. This research used a preexperimental one-shot posttest to examine the incidence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and associated trauma symptomatology from the earthquake experienced by a sample of…

Seismic Regionalization of Michoacan, Mexico and Recurrence Periods for Earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Magaña García, N.; Figueroa-Soto, Á.; Garduño-Monroy, V. H.; Zúñiga, R.

2017-12-01

Michoacán is one of the states with the highest occurrence of earthquakes in Mexico and it is a limit of convergence triggered by the subduction of Cocos plate over the North American plate, located in the zone of the Pacific Ocean of our country, in addition to the existence of active faults inside of the state like the Morelia-Acambay Fault System (MAFS).It is important to make a combination of seismic, paleosismological and geological studies to have good planning and development of urban complexes to mitigate disasters if destructive earthquakes appear. With statistical seismology it is possible to characterize the degree of seismic activity as well as to estimate the recurrence periods for earthquakes. For this work, seismicity catalog of Michoacán was compiled and homogenized in time and magnitude. This information was obtained from world and national agencies (SSN, CMT, etc), some data published by Mendoza and Martínez-López (2016) and starting from the seismic catalog homogenized by F. R. Zúñiga (Personal communication). From the analysis of the different focal mechanisms reported in the literature and geological studies, the seismic regionalization of the state of Michoacán complemented the one presented by Vázquez-Rosas (2012) and the recurrence periods for earthquakes within the four different seismotectonic regions. In addition, stable periods were determined for the b value of the Gutenberg-Richter (1944) using the Maximum Curvature and EMR (Entire Magnitude Range Method, 2005) techniques, which allowed us to determine recurrence periods: years for earthquakes upper to 7.5 for the subduction zone (A zone) with EMR technique and years with MAXC technique for the same years for earthquakes upper to 5 for B1 zone with EMR technique and years with MAXC technique; years for earthquakes upper to 7.0 for B2 zone with EMR technique and years with MAXC technique; and the last one, the Morelia-Acambay Fault Sistem zone (C zone) years for earthquakes

Earthquakes of the Central United States, 1795-2002

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wheeler, Russell L.

2003-01-01

This report describes construction of a list of Central U.S. earthquakes to be shown on a large-format map that is targeted for a non-technical audience. The map shows the locations and sizes of historical earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or larger over the most seismically active part of the central U.S., including the New Madrid seismic zone. The map shows more than one-half million square kilometers and parts or all of ten States. No existing earthquake catalog had provided current, uniform coverage down to magnitude 3.0, so one had to be made. Consultation with State geological surveys insured compatibility with earthquake lists maintained by them, thereby allowing the surveys and the map to present consistent information to the public.

Earthquakes for Kids

MedlinePlus

... across a fault to learn about past earthquakes. Science Fair Projects A GPS instrument measures slow movements of the ground. Become an Earthquake Scientist Cool Earthquake Facts Today in Earthquake History A scientist stands in ...

Two examples of earthquake- hazard reduction in southern California.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kockelman, W.J.; Campbell, C.C.

1983-01-01

Because California is seismically active, planners and decisionmakers must try to anticipate earthquake hazards there and, where possible, to reduce the hazards. Geologic and seismologic information provides the basis for the necessary plans and actions. Two examples of how such information is used are presented. The first involves assessing the impact of a major earthquake on critical facilities in southern California, and the second involves strengthening or removing unsafe masonry buildings in the Los Angeles area. -from Authors

Military Contributions to Rescue and Relief During the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iversen, E. H.

2006-12-01

In both the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire and the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake the military has played a significant role in rescue and relief operations. This paper focuses on the work done by the Army at the Presidio of San Francisco and gives briefer accounts of the work done by other installations and services. The role the Army played in 1989 is compared and contrasted to the role it played in the 1906 Earthquake and Fire. One of the most striking points is that in both cases the city of San Francisco never included military aid in planning but also did not refuse it. Due to the reduction of the Department of Defense budget the Presidio of San Francisco was transferred to the National Park Service on October 1, 1994. Almost all other San Francisco Bay area military installations have been closed with the exception of those belonging to the Coast Guard. Considering the important role the military has played in the 1906 and 1989 earthquakes there is concern as to how the cities of the Bay Area will cope when the earth shakes the next time.

Preliminary results from the investigation of the Pymatuning earthquake of September 25, 1998

USGS Publications Warehouse

Armbruster, John; Barton, Henry; Bodin, Paul; Buckwalter, Theodore; Cox, Jon; Cranswick, Edward; Dewey, James; Fleeger, Gary; Hopper, Margaret; Horton, Stephen; Hoskins, Donald; Kilb, Deborah; Meremonte, Mark; Metzger, Ann; Risser, Dennis; Seeber, Leonardo; Shedlock, Kaye; Stanley, Katherine; Withers, Mitchell; Zirbes, Madeleine

1998-01-01

The Pymatuning earthquake occurred on Friday, September 25, 1998, at 19:52:52 Universal Coordinated Time (UTC), or 3:52:52 p.m. EDT, near Jamestown, Pa., at the southern end of the Pymatuning Reservoir, which straddles the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. The National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) determined that the event had a magnitude of 5.2 mbLg (a magnitude scale used to measure the size of earthquakes that are regional distances away [100 to 1,000 km, or 60 to 600 mi]), an epicenter of 41.5°N latitude, 80.4°W longitude, and an estimated depth of 5 km (3 mi). One person was reported injured as a result of being thrown to the ground by the earthquake, and it caused minor damage to buildings and seriously disrupted many water wells in the GreenvilleJamestown, Pa., area. The earthquake was generally felt over an area of approximately 200,000 km2 (77,230 mi2) throughout northern Ohio, western Pennsylvania and New York, and much of southern Ontario, Canada (see map on back cover). It was also felt as far west as Illinois and Wisconsin, as far east as New Jersey, Connecticut, and the District of Columbia, and as far south as Kentucky and Virginia. During the aftershock field investigation that commenced within 12 hours of the main shock, a World Wide Web site, http://groundmotion.cr.usgs.gov/pym/pym.htm>, was established from the field headquarters. The web site was used not only to transmit investigation results to the world in near real time but also to receive information from the local community as new earthquake effects were reported. As of March 1999, at least 11 aftershocks have occurred, the largest being a magnitude 2.3. The largest recent previous earthquake in the region was the northeastern Ohio (Leroy) earthquake of magnitude 5.0 that occurred on January 31, 1986, about 65 km (40 mi) west-northwest of the Pymatuning shock. This event was also felt by many of those who felt the Pymatuning earthquake. Similar to most of the seismicity east of the Rocky

Toward full exploitation of coherent and incoherent information in Sentinel-1 TOPS data for retrieving surface displacement: Application to the 2016 Kumamoto (Japan) earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Houjun; Feng, Guangcai; Wang, Teng; Bürgmann, Roland

2017-02-01

Sentinel-1's continuous observation program over all major plate boundary regions makes it well suited for earthquake studies. However, decorrelation due to large displacement gradients and limited azimuth resolution of the Terrain Observation by Progressive Scan (TOPS) data challenge acquiring measurements in the near field of many earthquake ruptures and prevent measurements of displacements in the along-track direction. Here we propose to fully exploit the coherent and incoherent information of TOPS data by using standard interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR), split-bandwidth interferometry in range and azimuth, swath/burst-overlap interferometry, and amplitude cross correlation to map displacements in both the line-of-sight and the along-track directions. Application to the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake sequence reveals the coseismic displacements from the far field to the near field. By adding near-field constraints, the derived slip model reveals more shallow slip than obtained when only using far-field data from InSAR, highlighting the importance of exploiting all coherent and incoherent information in TOPS data.

Libraries in the Mexico City Earthquake.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Zamora, Rosa Maria Fernandez

1990-01-01

As a result of damage from the Mexico City earthquake of September 1985, some of the busiest public and special libraries had to be closed. A National Committee for the Reconstruction of Libraries was established, and international support was received through the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions and other…

The Global Earthquake Model and Disaster Risk Reduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)